Editing Friends (section)

=== Casting ===
{{See also|The Pilot (Friends)}}
[[File:Courteney Cox '10 PaleyFest.jpg|thumb|upright|The producers wanted [[Courteney Cox]] (''pictured'') to portray Rachel; however, Cox wanted to play Monica and co-creator Marta Kauffman agreed after watching the audition.]]
Once it became apparent that the series was a favored project at NBC, Littlefield reported that he was getting calls from every agent in town, wanting their client to be a part of the series.<ref name="friendsorigin" /> Auditions for the lead roles took place in New York and Los Angeles.<ref name="friendswrit" /> The casting director shortlisted 1,000 actors who had applied for each role down to 75. Those who received a callback read in front of Crane, Kauffman and Bright. At the end of March, the number of potential actors had been reduced to three or four for each part, and these actors were asked to read for [[Leslie Moonves|Les Moonves]], then president of Warner Bros. Television.<ref name="Kolbert2">Kolbert, Elizabeth (April 6, 1994). "[https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/06/arts/finding-the-absolutely-perfect-actor-the-high-stress-business-of-casting.html Finding the Absolutely Perfect Actor: The High-Stress Business of Casting] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008185205/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/06/arts/finding-the-absolutely-perfect-actor-the-high-stress-business-of-casting.html |date=October 8, 2016 }}", ''The New York Times''. Retrieved on January 19, 2008.</ref>

Having worked with David Schwimmer in the past,<ref name="friendswrit" /> the series creators wrote the character of Ross Geller with him in mind, and he was the first actor cast.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Couric, Katie |date=May 5, 2004 |title=Can David Schwimmer leave Ross Geller behind? |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/4908086 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831112036/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4908086 |archive-date=August 31, 2013 |access-date=December 23, 2008 |website=[[NBC News]]}}</ref> Courteney Cox wanted to play the role of Monica Geller because she liked the "strong" character, but the producers had her in mind to play Rachel Green because of her "cheery, upbeat energy", which was not how they envisioned Monica; after Cox's audition, though, Kauffman agreed with Cox, and she got the role.<ref name="friendsorigins1" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=Friends Til the end: The Official Celebration of all Ten years |publisher=Time Home Entertainment |year=2004}}</ref> When Matt LeBlanc auditioned for Joey Tribbiani, he put a "different spin" on the character.<ref name="friendsorigins1" /> He played Joey more simple-minded than intended and gave the character heart. Although Crane and Kauffman did not want LeBlanc for the role at the time, they were told by the network to cast him.<ref name="friendsorigins1" /> Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow were cast as Rachel, Chandler Bing and Phoebe Buffay based on their auditions.<ref name="friendswrit" /> Perry and Aniston, both still under contract to other shows that year, ''LAX 2194'' and ''[[Muddling Through]]'', were cast days before shooting of the pilot began.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/matthew-perry-tribute-david-janollari-chandler-friends-1235633427/ |title=Warner Bros. Exec Recalls Casting Chandler: "It Was Magic" |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=October 31, 2023 |access-date=October 31, 2023 |archive-date=October 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031205130/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/matthew-perry-tribute-david-janollari-chandler-friends-1235633427/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

More changes occurred to the series's storylines during the casting process. The writers found that they had to adjust the characters they had written to suit the actors, and the discovery process of the characters occurred throughout the first season. Kauffman acknowledged that Joey's character became "this whole new being", and that "it wasn't until we did the first Thanksgiving episode that we realized how much fun Monica's neuroses are."<ref name="friendsnewsday" />