It has been revealed that Sir Paul McCartney, of The Beatles and Kanye West collaboration fame, was close to being cast in the hit US TV sitcom, Friends.
While he no doubt would have made a charmingly foppish Chandler, Macca was actually headhunted for the role of Ross Geller’s father-in-law back in 1998.
As NME reports, the show’s casting director, Leslie Litt, has recently divulged that the creators originally wanted McCartney for Season Four’s iconic finale double episode, which (SPOILER ALERT) sees Ross utter the fateful “Take thee Rachel” line during his wedding ceremony with British love interest, Emily Waltham.
“I went through his manager and gave him all the details,” Litt told the Huffington Post. “One day, someone in the office brought me a faxed letter written to me by Paul himself! He thanked me for my interest and said how flattered he was, but it was a very busy time for him.”
Emily’s father went on to be portrayed by Scottish-born actor, Tom Conti.
As honorary Beatlemaniacs, we can’t pretend we’re not just a bit disappointed that McCartney turned down the role. It would have been fabulous to see him expand on the solid thespian foundations he laid back in 1964.
