Phoebe Buffay may have sashayed with her guitar into the sunset with musician Mike when Friends concluded in 2004, but things could have worked out, romantically, very differently for Lisa Kudrow’s character.
According to the hit NBC sitcom’s co-creator David Crane, “there was definitely a possibility” that Phoebe could have ended up with former partner David (played by Hank Azaria) instead of Mike (Paul Rudd).
“I mean, we didn’t definitively know,” the producer told Radio Times, when asked if it was always definite which of her great loves Phoebe would end up with.
“They’re both amazing actors. I mean, both Paul and Hank are fantastic, and fantastic with her. We sort of went back and forth,” David explained.
“I don’t even remember all the pieces that led to where we landed. But yeah, it could have gone the other way. Phoebe would have been great with either one.”
Whether the fictional Phoebe and Mike are still together more than 15 years after we last checked in with them remains to be seen.
However, perhaps at the rumoured upcoming unscripted reunion special – which will reportedly coincide with re-runs of the show debuting on HBO Max in the US – the cast and crew will shed some light on the issue.
The original six stars of Friends recently caused a huge stir on social media when they posed for their first photo together in more than a decade, which coincided with Jennifer Aniston joining Instagram.
Jennifer later revealed that she and her former co-stars were trying to make some class of new project happen, but refused to disclose any more information.