Of all the Friends love stories, Phoebe and Mike's is perhaps the most charming. But before Mike came along, there was David, the scientist that Phoebe falls in love with before he has to move to Minsk, Belarus, for work. We just discovered that the original plan was for her to end up with him.
Hank Azaria, the actor who played David, told The Huffington Post that the character was supposed to return from Minsk and get back together with Phoebe. What changed that?
“I think, honestly, what happened was Paul Rudd is so awesome that they sort of found a groove with him and [my character] became more of just the grist for that mill,” he said. “It actually did sting a little bit...whatever part of me is David the science guy who went to Minsk, which admittedly is probably a small part of me [laughs], but that part of me wanted to end up with Phoebe. So, I was sort of sad when I didn’t.”
We can't really blame the show's writers. Aside from being played by Paul Rudd, Mike also had a great story. He and Phoebe met when Joey didn't fulfill his promise to set up a blind date for her, so he simply shouted "Mike!" in Central Perk hoping someone would respond. Given Phoebe's belief in fate and the metaphysical, it was just too good a story to come to an end. Nice as David was, we're glad Phoebe ended up with Mike.
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