It's hard to imagine Matt LeBlanc and not automatically think of the dim-but-lovable Manhattanite he played on Friends. However, if things went another way, we may be associating him just as closely with Modern Family's Phil Dunphy. I know — I'm shook, too.
The sitcom actor — who currently stars on the CBS series Man With A Plan after playing himself for four seasons on Showtime's Episodes — admitted to USA Today that, yes, the man who ate a million sandwiches as Joey Tribbiani could have joined the most famous family on TV.
Instead of Ty Burrell playing the role of the hobby-loving Dunphy patriarch (a role Burrell nabbed two Emmy awards for, no less) it could have been LeBlanc — had he thought he was right for the part, of course.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
"I remember reading it thinking, this is a really good script, [but] I’m not the guy for this," LeBlanc told USA Today. "I’d be doing the project an injustice to take this. I know what I can do, I know what I can’t do."
He also admitted to the outlet that there was another reason why he skipped out on the show. And it is so Joey of him.
"Plus," joked the actor. "I’m having too much fun laying on the couch."
It's definitely hard to imagine LeBlanc as Phil since the earnest television dad is just a completely different character from anything we've seen the Friends star play. However, it's not just Modern Family that could have been totally different had LeBlanc made another choice: according to a report from Esquire U.K., Vince Vaughn almost scored the role of Joey on Friends, meaning he could have very well had it if LeBlanc decided to spend some more quality coach time back in 1994.
Everything happens for a reason, and in this case, it's clear that the real person meant to play Phil won out in the end. However, if LeBlanc ever wants to fill in for Burrell when he's on vacation, well, I'll gladly watch to see what could have been.