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Friends: Matthew Perry Against "Chandler Cheating on Monica" Storyline

Friends actress Lisa Cash shared how a storyline was in place where Chandler cheated on Monica - until Matthew Perry argued against it.

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Article Summary

  • Matthew Perry disagreed with a potential Friends storyline where Chandler cheated on Monica.
  • The plot had Chandler having a fling with a hotel worker after a fight with Monica.
  • Actress Lisa Cash, cast as the hotel worker, revealed that the storyline was dumped at Perry's request.
  • Perry felt that Friends fans would never forgive Chandler if he cheated on Monica.

There comes a certain amount of self-awareness and responsibility that comes from being on a megahit show like NBC's Friends and it was something Lisa Cash witnessed firsthand when her initial storyline was dropped as the hotel worker Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) cheated on Monica Geller (Courtney Cox) with. The story was dropped after the late star, who passed in late October, protected the creative direction of his character – knowing the potential backlash from fans. The initial arc involved Cash's character being involved with Chandler after an argument over Monica having lunch with an ex-flame, Dr. Ricard Burke (Tom Selleck) – Selleck appeared in 10 episodes across three seasons.

Friends: Guest Star Reflects on How Perry Protected Chandler-Monica
Matthew Perry & Courtney Cox in "Friends". Image courtesy of Warner Bros

Friends: Lisa Cash on What Could Have Been with Perry's Chandler

"I came in as a guest star and I was super excited," Cash told TMZ. "The scene was Chandler and Monica were arguing in Vegas about having lunch with Richard. Initially in our script, Chandler goes up to the hotel room, orders room service and I bring it up [to him] as a hotel worker. We end up talking and laughing and connecting, and Chandler ends up cheating on Monica with my character."

Cash would appear in the season five episode "The One in Vegas: Part I" and would be involved in the popular on-and-off relationship of Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) and Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) as a flight attendant. "We had rehearsed it and everything," Cash continued. "The day before we were shooting in front of a live audience, I was told that Perry went to the writers and said the audience would never forgive [Chandler] for cheating on Monica. He was probably right! That would've changed possibly the course of the show and his character." The relationship between Chandler and Monica was always close but got more serious in season four, and eventually, they get married in season seven. Friends is available to stream on Max.

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Tom ChangAbout Tom Chang

I'm a follower of pop culture from gaming, comics, sci-fi, fantasy, film, and TV for over 30 years. I grew up reading magazines like Starlog, Mad, and Fangoria. As a writer for over 10 years, Star Wars was the first sci-fi franchise I fell in love with. I'm a nerd-of-all-trades.
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