Key Insights

• Audition History: Frank Grillo auditioned multiple times for the role of Joey Tribbiani in Friends.
• Unexpected Opportunity: Grillo was encouraged by the casting director to audition even though he initially planned to support a friend.
• Career Impact: Although he did not land the role, the experience ignited Grillo’s passion for acting.
• Current Projects: Grillo is currently starring in the second season of Peacemaker alongside John Cena.

While Friends turned Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, and Matthew Perry into household names, numerous other actors came close to landing the roles, creating a fascinating history of near misses. One actor who auditioned for Friends was Frank Grillo (Peacemaker), who explained on the Project Big Screen podcast that he was actually called back several times and even tested for the role of Joey Tribbiani.

Grillo had driven his friend to the audition and wasn’t going to take part, but the casting director insisted he should give it a shot as well.

“The casting director came out. It was at CBS Radford in Los Angeles. And she goes, ‘Are you next?’ I go, ‘Oh no, I just drove him,’” Grillo said. “She goes, ‘You an actor?’ I said, ‘Um, yeah,’ I go and she goes, ‘Take those sides and come in in like five minutes.’ And I did. And they called me back. And then they called me back again. I didn’t have an agent or anything. And they called me back a third time. And then I went to do a test. And I tested for it. And at that point, I thought, ‘This is easy. I’m going to be an actor.’“

Although Grillo didn’t get the part, obviously, he said it “really sparked a real interest in being more serious about pursuing [acting].“

Grillo can currently be seen starring alongside John Cena in the second season of Peacemaker as Rick Flag Sr., a role he’s played in Creature Commandos and Superman. Our own Alex Maidy is a big fan of the new season. “Peacemaker was great when it debuted and is even better the second time around,” he wrote. “James Gunn’s DCU is off to a strong start, and the man himself should take pride in having created three distinct projects to kick off his cinematic universe, which are all vastly different and yet impressively high quality. Peacemaker works because John Cena is the perfect blend of muscle and emotional presence, making the ensemble more cohesive than before. I love everything about this series, and I look forward to seeing how this season wraps up, inevitably leading into a third season and other aspects of the DCU.” You can check out the rest of his review right here. We’ve only got two more episodes left, and you’re not going to want to miss them.