It's hard to imagine anyone else sitting on that iconic Central Perk sofa other than the Friends we ended up with (leading to one of the best sitcoms of all time). But if different choices had been made, the key character of Rachel Green, played by Jennifer Aniston, could have looked like Ross's (David Schwimmer) first ex-wife, Carol, played by Jane Sibbett.

During an appearance on an Australian morning show SunriseSibeth was asked if she almost got the role of Rachel. "Almost. It's a bit of a decoration," she said. "I actually left the audition room for Rachel and got a phone call from my manager saying, 'They want you, they want you, they want you.' You have to come back next week, but they want you."

However, Sibeth was worried about one small question that might come up about the character she had the chance to play: "So I said, 'Did you tell them I'm pregnant?' and he said, 'No, no, no, just go to the test, so it passed." Taking the more honest approach, Sibbet didn't get the role of Rachel, but at least she ended up with Carol, right? Well, just like Ross' divorces and the show's many relationships, things were also a little complicated there.

After missing out on playing the cafe's most famous employee, Sibeth found herself elsewhere as Carol, Ross's pregnant ex-wife, given that she had a child of her own on the way. Unfortunately, the schedule didn't line up and Sibbett lost the role to Anita Baron.

"I said, 'Ask them if I can play the pregnant lesbian, and they said the timing still wouldn't work,'" Sibet recalls. Fortunately, things changed drastically when, after one appearance in the show's pilot, Barron left the show. Friends needed a carol and post. "And so when I got home from the hospital after giving birth, that's when I got a phone call.

Fortunately, there were no hard feelings between her and her co-star who eventually caught Rachel. "No one could have played that role besides Jennifer." No one,” said Sibbett. But in his own way, Sibbett made a substantial mark on the show, bringing a gay character to the forefront of television that received a rapturous reception. Any mention of Carol being a lesbian was censored in Chinawhile her marriage to her partner Susan (Jessica Hecht) was banned across multiple networks. As Sibbett said, "They thought it was going to be a big deal, but it gave us a lot of great press and it gave us an opportunity to talk about, you know, love is love and this is something we needed to do, and it's just a beautiful story. ".