Matt LeBlanc talks about his major Friends audition fail. Photo / Supplied
Matt LeBlanc talks about his major Friends audition fail. Photo / Supplied
Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Friends: The Reunion"
Matt LeBlanc has revealed how he managed to score the role of a lifetime as Joey Tribbiani in Friends.
The 53-year-old American actor played the hilarious, wannabe actor for 10 years from the show's premiere in 1994 to its finale in 2004.
Whenhe went to his very first audition for the part, he only had $9 in his bank account (he's now worth a cool $100 million).
LeBlanc reveals in the reunion that he went for a wild night out with friends the night before his final callback audition, which he says was a way of getting into character.
After a big night and a fair few drinks, he managed to suffer a major laceration to his face which somehow worked to his advantage.
"To make a long story short, I woke up in the middle of the night and had to go to the bathroom, and I've got up too fast," LeBlanc tells host James Corden during the Friends: The Reunion, which is available to watch on TVNZ OnDemand and aired last night on TVNZ 2.
"I can't believe I'm telling you this … But I kind of blacked out as you do, and fell face first into the toilet and hit my nose on the bottom of the toilet seat.
The cast of Friends, back in the day. Photo / Supplied
"A huge chunk of meat came off my nose, and I had to go in for the big callback with a big ugly scab on my nose.
"[Producer] Marta (Kauffman) goes, 'What happened to your face?'. And I told the truth and got the job."
LeBlanc was the third person to be cast in Friends, following David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow.
Producers said they were struggling to find a funny actor for the role of Joey until LeBlanc walked in and "suddenly the lines felt funny", according to producer David Crane.
After LeBlanc's casting, Courteney Cox was cast in the role of Monica, followed by Matthew Perry as Chandler and last but not least, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel.
