If you’ve been paying any attention to me at all these many years you know I’m obsessed with the TV show “Friends.”

Throughout its years on the air, “Friends” proved to be quite a phenomenon, attracting a huge number of viewers and, at the same time, critical acclaim. Among the accolades the sitcom has received, it has been nominated over 60 times at the Primetime Emmy Awards and 10 times at the Golden Globes. In addition to that, the show managed to break into popular culture worldwide, imposing lines, hairstyles and different elements that, to this day, are still strongly associated with it.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer are the actors who played the main characters in this show, and as a result, their careers skyrocketed to stardom. So much so that, even though they went on to work on countless projects over the years, people still identify them with their roles on the NBC sitcom, and enjoy every chance they get to see them relive their days on the show.

Again, guilty here.

Nowadays, it is very hard to imagine what the “Friends” characters would have been like if they had been portrayed by other actors. However, as with almost all TV and film projects, before the six main actors were cast, many actors were considered for each role. I came upon an article revealing some of the performers who could have starred in “Friends.” According to said story on msn.com, here are some of them:

• Vince Vaughn as Joey Tribbiani

These days, Vince Vaughn is a world-renowned actor famous for starring in a huge number of productions, such as the 2005 comedy “Wedding Crashers” or the HBO series “True Detective.” However, back in the 1990s, he was only at the beginning of his career, and like so many other actors in the industry, he opted to take a chance and audition to play Joey Tribbiani, the seductive and goofy character from “Friends.”

While Vaughn managed to wow with his skills during the audition and he nailed the character’s look, he ended up losing out to Matt LeBlanc, who seemed to have been born to play Joey. However, shortly after the premiere of “Friends,” Vaughn landed the role that made him skyrocket to fame in the 1996 comedy-drama “Swingers” alongside Jon Favreau.

• Kathy Griffin as Phoebe Buffay

Comedian and actress Kathy Griffin kicked off her career in the industry by performing stand-up comedy and as part of the improvisational comedy troupe, “The Groundlings.” Over the years she made a name for herself and cemented her status as a comedy star with her specials. However, like many other actresses at the time, Griffin didn’t want to miss out on “Friends” either and auditioned for the character of Phoebe Buffay, a role that eventually went to Lisa Kudrow. I may be in the minority here but – yuck! I find much of her humor rude and offensive and I, for one, am glad she never portrayed the beloved Phoebe.

• Jon Favreau as Chandler Bing

Just as Vaughn could have played the lovable Joey Tribbiani, his “Swingers” co-star could have landed the role of his best friend, Chandler Bing. Back then, Jon Favreau was not yet the renowned filmmaker he is today, and he was just taking his first steps in the industry as an actor. However, Favreau’s reasons for not starring in Friends are different from Vaughn’s, as he was offered the role of Chandler, but ended up rejecting it to focus on other projects.

Thus, he eventually worked as a writer and lead star in “Swingers” and went on to become an icon in the industry. But even though he did not accept the offer to play Chandler Bing, the actor did star in “Friends” as Pete Becker, Monica Geller’s millionaire boyfriend. Remember his unfortunate showing as the Ultimate Fighter? Yikes!

• Hank Azaria as Joey Tribbiani

Hank Azaria rose to fame as the voice of several of The Simpsons’ most beloved characters during the late 1980s, and when he first heard about “Friends,” he was thrilled with the project and decided to audition for the role of Joey Tribbiani.

He was so into the sitcom that, even though he was rejected fairly early in the audition process, he asked to audition one more time. Despite being turned down again and excluded from the main cast, Hank ended up appearing in “Friends” anyway, as he played David, one of Phoebe’s boyfriends in a few episodes of the show. As for me, I thought he was so downright lovable!

Kimerer is a kooky columnist and “Friends” fanatic. Contact her to say “How YOU doin’?” at pkimerer@zoominternet.net.