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David Schwimmer's 'Rachel' script slip up accidentally created one of the most awkward lines in Friends

Home> Entertainment> TV

Published 18:29 23 Oct 2023 GMT+1

David Schwimmer's 'Rachel' script slip up accidentally created one of the most awkward lines in Friends

An iconic moment born out of a complete accident

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

Ross and Rachel, Rachel and Ross... for many years, it was all anyone could talk about.

But while the writers worked hard to keep their story going, one of the most iconic lines from the show was a total accident. This is the story:

Cast your mind back to the year 1998 - Ross had moved on with Emily, and was set to tie the knot, putting the final nail on the coffin of his relationship with Rachel... or so it seemed.

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Like anything with the hapless palaeontologist, it was never gonna go quite according to plan, was it?

And when Rachel followed the gang to London to profess her faith to him, and hopefully call off the nuptials, it all went decidedly t**s up.

I mean, we all know what happened, right?

Oh dear.
Warner Bros.

Instead of saying 'I Ross, take thee, Emily', he accidentally says 'Rachel', which is just about the worst way to kick off your marriage, tbh.

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The line has since gone down in history, but it could have all gone very differently.

Revealing the true story behind the scene, one of the show's producers, Greg Malins, explained that David Schwimmer, who played Ross, accidentally came up with it.

In a clip that's been shared on social media, he revealed they were struggling to find a way to progress the story, and during filming the actor actually messed up his lines.

Even Rachel was surprised.
Warner Bros.

"There was one time at a taping, where David Schwimmer walked in the room and what he was supposed to say was, 'I have the cab waiting downstairs, Emily', but he walked in and said, 'I have the cab waiting downstairs, Rachel... oh, shoot, sorry'.

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"And he ran back out, and we went, 'That's what should happen'. But it just happened because David flubbed his lines."

And we're thankful he did.

From ‘mistakes’ in the filming to a ‘plot hole’ in Rachel’s backstory, fans are often finding another new talking point about Friends.

During the season five episode ‘The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS’, Ross gets uncontrollably excited when Emily calls him up to resolve their mess of a marriage.

As he rises up from his chair, he gets pretty frantic, shouting at the others and moving about erratically.

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In this moment of madness, Ross picks up a lamp and randomly hands it to Chandler - who understandably looks rather confused.

More understandably so considering Schwimmer decided to add this move in for his actor, with Matthew Perry reportedly having no idea what was going on.

Perry was genuinely confused.
Warner Bros.

So, Chandler’s reaction is totally genuine as the actor is left holding a lamp with no clue why.

But being a skilled improv comic, Perry didn’t break character and just kept holding onto the object for the rest of the scene - making the whole thing even funnier to fans.

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Users were in stitches over the video as they reminisced on the iconic Friends scene.

Another pointed out the shock of the other actors, claiming Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe) ‘wouldn’t look at the camera because she was laughing’.

One user praised Perry, writing: “Just shows how much Matthew is Chandler irl. Chandler would have reacted that way if it was scripted, even better that it wasn't.”

Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Topics: US News, TV and Film, Friends, Jennifer Aniston

Dominic Smithers
Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers is LADbible's Editorial Lead. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History, he went on to write for the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express. So as you can imagine, he’s spent many a night wondering just how useful that second language has been. But c'est la vie.

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@SmithersDom

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