When David Crane and Marta Kauffman first createdFriends, they realized they had a bit of a beast on their hands. Rather than focusing on two individuals or a single protagonist and a handful of supporting characters, they needed six strong leads who could really bring the chemistry on set and make audiences believe that their varying histories with one another were authentic. Luckily, Crane and Kauffman got the idea thatthe six castmateswould naturally become friends and bring that genuine bond to the stage if they hung out each day. Lunches turned into afternoon get-togethers, and eventually, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer all had a bond that could never be broken.
Now, those immediate connections happily bled over to their characters, who all had different histories and intertwining storylines with one another. Some of the characters' relationships have lasted nearly a lifetime while others were established minutes into the pilot episode. With a few hiccups along the way where even the characters forget they have met before, let’s take a look at how each of the main characters inFriendsactually met one another for the very first time.
Friends is the popular sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, released back in 1994 and ran for ten seasons. The show follows a group of six twentysomethings through their lives in New York City and their time spent between their two apartments and their local coffee shop. The show features the group navigating tricky relationships with one another and comical misadventures.
How Rachel Met Monica and Ross
Rachel and Monica became friends when they were just six years old, and they were practically inseparable all throughout school. While both ran with very different crowds — Rachel was the typical popular and spoiled cheerleader, while Monica did not run at all with her only friend, Will, who made her look like “the thin friend” — they were still the best of friends who accepted one another despite their own insecurities. Naturally, the two drifted apart after high school, but Rachel still felt like they were close enough years later, when she chose to run away from her own wedding and seek out her childhood friend for comfort.
Given that Ross is Monica’s older brother, it makes sense that he met Rachel at a young age through Monica. At some point in their teenage years (and maybe even before), he developed a crush on Rachel that never let up. Even when he was one of two people in the “I Hate Rachel Green” club, where Will was the other co-founder and member, he still had feelings for her.
How Rachel Met Everyone
In the pilot episode ofFriends, when Rachel comes barging into the coffee shop looking for Monica, she has no idea that she is meeting all of her future best friends. Monica introduces everyone to her one by one, and she comments that Rachel should remember Ross. What is interesting about this scene is that Rachel and Chandler have already met on at least three occasions. The first was when the girls were in high school and Ross brought Chandlerhome for Thanksgivingdinner. Rachel and Chandler later kissed at a college party, but by guessing what was in those fancy cups, it would come as no surprise that she did not remember that particular interaction. Then, one year before the pilot, Rachel and Chandler met in the bar that would later become Central Perk — she even fantasized about having a fling with him.
When Rachel is hysterical and meeting the group at the coffee house in the very first episode, the only “new people” she really meets are Joey and Phoebe, and both take an instant liking to her. Phoebe likes a little chaos (Rachel showing up frantic in a wedding dress would have made for a great song), and Joey was just excited to have another dateable prospect in his life.
How Chandler and Ross Met
Ross truly got lucky when he went away to college, not because he could focus on women other than Rachel (which he didn’t), but because he found his very best friend, Chandler. The two roomed together, partied together, started a band that had practically no following, and quite possibly had the worst hairstyles on campus.
During Thanksgiving Break, Ross brings Chandler home to meet his family because he has nowhere else to go for the holidays. Initially, Ross' parents are delighted to meet one of his college friends, but when Chandler comments that he hates traditional Thanksgiving food and the holiday itself, Judy does not like him nearly as much. That disliking turned to sheer hatred when Judy and her husband believed Chandler was a bad influence on their son when they caught Ross smoking pot in college (of course, he placed the blame on Chandler).
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How Chandler Met Rachel and Monica
Chandler’s hatred for Thanksgiving is understandable due to his history with his parents, but fans imagine he would come to love the holiday because it is when he met his wife for the very first time. When Ross brings Chandler home for the holidays, his parents and Rachel may not pay him much attention, but Monica is immediately smitten by him.
This is the time whenChandler compliments Monica’s macaroni and cheese (that she made specifically for him), which inspires her to become a chef. Unfortunately, she remembers the night being the time he also called her fat when he thought she was nowhere around. This breaks her heart, but it also sparks her motivation to get healthy. She gets her revenge on him one year later when she accidentally severs his toe and brings a carrot piece to the hospital instead of the toe.
How Joey Met Chandler
In season three, episode six, “The One with the Flashback,” several first encounters are shown as the group thinks back to how many of them met and how a few of them almost became more than friends. Of these meetings, Chandler and Joey’s is one of the best because when Chandler interviews Joey as a potential roommate, Joey makes an off-handed comment about “being okay with the gay thing,” insinuating that he thinks Chandler is gay, and gets shuffled out rather quickly.
Happily, the guy Chandler did choose to be his roommate was misinformed about the situation and never showed up, leading to Joey and Chandler living together. This was the start of a beautiful andiconic bromance between the two; they just didn’t know it yet.
How Joey and Monica Met
When Chandler was trying to get rid of Joey after the sexuality misunderstanding, Monica is in the hall and briefly says hi to Joey on his way out. After the mishap with the other applicant, Joey moves into the apartment, but not before he and Monica get to know one another a little too much. Monica invites Joey over for lemonade, and while she does think he is cute, she by no means meant “lemonade” as a euphemism for “sex.”
With ice-cold glasses in her hand, she turns around to see her new neighbor stark naked in her apartment, ready to get down to business. She clarifies that “lemonade” really means just a refreshing beverage in this case, and Joey is instantly humbled. To say this interaction was awkward would be a gross understatement, but happily, the two were able to leave this event in the past.
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How Joey Met Ross and Phoebe
After Joey and Chandler are officially roommates, and Monica has seen way more of her new neighbor than she expected, the pair take Joey down to their hangout spot — the bar that is being renovated into what will be Central Perk. There, Joey meets Ross and Phoebe just after they almost had sex on top of a pool table, a story no one knew about until this episode.
Ross is still devastated after finding out that his wife is a lesbian, and when he mentions it to the group, Joey, who has not yet even been introduced to the soon-to-be divorcee, says “Cool.” Annoyed, Ross asks who Joey is, and Chandler gives the formal introductions between the two. Phoebe also meets Joey at this time, but they barely acknowledge one another with everything else going on around them.
How Phoebe Met Monica and Chandler
Monica and Phoebe met way before the pilot episode when Phoebe moved into Monica’s apartment (perScreen Rant). We get a small glimpse of how the two polar opposites actually dealt with one another as roommates in “The One with the Flashback,” but even then, Phoebe has already moved out and just does not know how to tell Monica. Phoebe claims that she still wants to be friends with Monica, but the latter’s incessant need to clean and keep everything a certain way has driven the free-spirited woman mad, making her relocation the only plausible option to keep their friendship.
With Chandler living across the hall and Monica dating his former roommate before Joey came along, fans can assume that Phoebe and Chandler have already met and established some form of friendship with one another.
How Phoebe and Unknowingly Met Ross
Phoebe and Ross' first interaction inFriendslore has got to be one of the funniest, but we didn’t know about it until the ninth season. Naturally, everyone had assumed that Ross met Phoebe through Monica when the two became roommates; even the characters thought that is how everything went down. However, when Monica tells a story about how Ross was once mugged on the street when he was a kid, Phoebe realizes she was his attacker.
Phoebe confronts Ross, but he refuses to admit that a little girl managed to take his backpack with his self-made comic “Science Boy.” When Phoebe reiterates exactly what she said to him, Ross' world comes crashing down, and he remembers the incident. Phoebe then shows him that she kept “Science Boy” from her mugging days, and the two realize how far they have come since that fateful day.
