IF YOU DON’T know Hank Azaria for his work voicing multiple Simpsons’ characters, then it’s likely you know him for his role on Friends.

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The 54-year-old actor played David, Phoebe’s on-again/off-again boyfriend, over the course of the show’s ten seasons.

But it turns out Hank actually had his eye on a bigger prize when word landed that a sitcom about twenty-something New Yorkers was about to be launched back in the early 90s.

Speaking to GQ, Hank revealed that he saw himself in the role of Joey.

But unfortunately for him, he was the only one who did.

I wanted to be Joey, and they said no… as you might be aware of.

We weren’t Hank, but do go on.

It was the first time I ever asked to go back. I was like ‘Do you know what, you’ve got to see me again! I’ve got to try it again!’

The begging didn’t pay off, but why so much enthusiasm?

That’s how much we knew Friends was going to be, at least, really funny. We couldn’t have known it was  going to be that big a hit. Everyone I knew was, like, crazed to get in that show.

So, how did Hank manage to find himself a seat in the coffee house in the end?

They rejected me from Joey, but then I was lucky enough to do the movie Quiz Show which raised my status and they liked me in that and they gave me that role as Phoebe’s boyfriend – scientist boyfriend.

And there you have it.

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