Matthew Perry Nearly Missed Out On Playing Chandler In Friends

Could we be any happier that “LAX 2194” never got off the ground? The brass at Fox abruptly canceled the sitcom before production got any further, freeing Matthew Perry to audition for the role of Chandler Bing. His combination of awkwardness and snark made the actor the perfect foil for the other two male characters, the womanizing Joey Tribbiani and lovable nerd Ross Geller. For Perry, though, it was an answer to a prayer. 

In his autobiography, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” (via Insider),  the actor revealed that just weeks before he went out for the part, he read an article about Charlie Sheen and how fame had changed his life. Perry wrote, “Out of nowhere, I found myself getting to my knees, closing my eyes tightly, and praying. I had never done this before. … ‘God, you can do whatever you want to me. Just please make me famous.’”

Whether divine intervention or just a good reading, Perry got the role — and not a moment too soon. Down on his luck and running short of cash and opportunities at the time, he could just as easily have ended up waiting tables between auditions for 10 years or moving on to another profession that he hated, like the job Chandler held (whatever that was).