Jessica Hecht reveals she auditioned for Monica before being cast as Susan in ‘Friends’: 'They just couldn’t figure out...'

Before she was cast as Susan, the partner of Ross’s ex-wife Carol, actress Jessica Hecht revealed that she had actually auditioned for the role of Monica on ‘Friends’. Carol and Ross were played by Jane Sibbett and David Schwimmer, respectively.

In a recent interview with Parade, the three-time Tony nominee shared that her audition for Monica happened quite unexpectedly. “I knew the casting director from high school. I grew up in a small town near Hartford, Connecticut, called Bloomfield,” Hecht recalled. “The only other person from my town who’s an actor or has anything to do with entertainment is Anika Noni Rose. But there was this woman, Ellie Kanner.”

“I was out in Los Angeles, and my agent said, ‘Oh, I sent your picture to this casting director for Friends,’” she added. “There’s one part; they’re not sure if the actor will take it. They want to still look at some other actors, and I think she knows you from high school.’ So I went in, mostly excited to see Ellie Kanner, and then they started to read me for Monica.”

Being a backup didn’t bother her

Of course, Courteney Cox was eventually chosen to play Monica. Hecht told Parade that she thought of herself as “a total backup.”

She was later cast as Susan, a recurring character in ‘Friends’, and appeared in more than a dozen episodes, starting from the second episode of season 1.

Reflecting on that time, Hecht said, “If you’re at the very beginning, you don’t know what it’s going to be. So you’re just there trying to help them figure out what the show is. And you don’t feel the weight of its history, because it has no history.”

She added, “In Friends, it’s not that it was casual, but the show was not iconic by any stretch. So I had more creativity, and I had more of a sense of just trusting my gut about what I wanted to do with this character. And Jane Sibbett, who played my beautiful wife, we were so locked into each other, so it was mostly about our energy together. The actors were awesome, but nobody had that confidence yet, so it was a very delicious time.”

Hecht’s struggles with character development

Hecht also revealed that it was challenging for the show’s creators to develop Susan’s character. Carol and Susan’s storyline was one of the earliest depictions of same-sex marriage on mainstream television, with their wedding featured in the first episode of season 2.

Speaking about the role, Hecht said, “They just couldn’t figure out how to make Susan work.” She added, “Because they—well, it's awful. But let’s face it, all they wanted was a lesbian who didn’t look exactly like lesbians had in the past.”

Looking back, Hecht shared that she feels thankful she wasn’t a lead character. She said the short stint on the show allowed her to enjoy the experience without dealing with the pressure of being in the spotlight all the time.