The Truth About How Matt LeBlanc Dislocated His Shoulder On The Friends Set
"Friends" probably isn't exactly the first show most people think of when it comes to a high chance of on-set injuries, but it turns out that's exactly what happened to Joey actor, Matt LeBlanc. Plenty of titbits have come out from the hugely popular mid-1990s to mid-2000s sitcom in the years since it wrapped, and the backstage secrets reached fever pitch in May 2021 when the cast dished some major things we never knew about the show when they got back together for the much-anticipated HBO Max reunion.
One particularly big reveal during the special came when Ross and Rachel actors David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston shared they almost dated offscreen. Yes, really — Ross and Rachel almost lived in real life! The two confessed to having pretty major crushes on one another during the first season of the beloved sitcom but revealed nothing ever happened because they were both in relationships.
While it hurt us knowing one of the most beloved TV couples in history could have taken their love offscreen (imagine how the gossip columns would have eaten that one up!), it was nothing compared to the actual pain LeBlanc once experienced on set. Read on for the painful details.
Matt LeBlanc injured himself filming an iconic Friends episode
"Friends" fans will remember the Season 3 episode "The One Where No-One's Ready," which broke conventions by following the gang in pretty much real-time as they all gathered together in Monica (Courteney Cox) and Rachel's (Jennifer Aniston) apartment to get ready to attend an event with Ross.
In the episode, Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) compete for who gets to sit in a chair. At one point, Joey leaves the chair area and he and Chandler make a run to get back to it, only it didn't turn out well for the former. "I went to jump over the coffee table, somehow tripped, my legs went up in the air, and my shoulder came out of its socket," LeBlanc recalled during the "Friends: The Reunion" special.
"Friends" co-creator Marta Kaufmann revealed the injury was totally unnecessary as they'd already shot the scene three times "perfectly." She added, "Lord knows why we had to shoot it a fourth time." We're guessing LeBlanc probably asked the same question...
It turns out the cast thought they knew why the incident happened though, as LeBlanc superstitiously believed it was because they didn't do their usual group huddle before filming that particular episode. "After that, we were like, 'Do we need to do the huddle?' and [LeBlanc] would say, 'Yeah! I don't want anything else falling off.' After that we always did it," Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe) recalled. Better safe than sorry!