Tom Hanks was supposed to play Sandy on 'Friends', says Freddie Prinze Jr

Freddie Prinze Jr has revealed that Hollywood veteran Tom Hanks was originally approached to play the role of Sandy in "Friends".

Prinze Jr played the titular role of Sandy in the 200th episode of the much-loved sitcom, titled "The One With the Male Nanny".

In the episode, Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and Ross (David Schwimmer) hire a male nanny named Sandy.

The actor said he feels lucky to have landed a role in one of the most popular shows in the history of American television.

"I wasn't even supposed to be (Sandy), that was originally offered to Tom Hanks but he wasn't gonna make it back from his film on time. And so my agent called me and said, 'Do you want to be on Friends? And I said, 'Yeah, I'll do an episode of 'Friends'. That'll be great.' He said, 'Yeah, it shoots tomorrow.' and I was like, 'What?' He said, 'Yes, tomorrow so I'll send you the script'," Prinze Jr told Entertainment Weekly.

The 43-year-old actor also recalled his first meeting with the star of the show, David Schwimmer, saying he was "cool and passionate".

"I was totally nervous because it was on the day of shooting. I didn't even get to do a read-through. And David Schwimmer walked into my dressing room and he was so cool and so passionate and he had so much energy.

"He came into the room and was like, You're going to love this, man. It's like a little two-act play and the crowd is so engaged, and so into it. You'll have a ton of fun, don't worry about a thing'.