According to NewsMonkey, Director James Burrows recently revealed the advice he gave to the cast of Friends that shaped their performances, including Matthew Perry, whose character Chandler Bing is considered the breakout character in Friends. Chandler's traits and quirks proved to be a big hit with fans, and his tendency to freak out over various matters has also been notable in the series.
The character’s fears range from having to commit to a woman to the possibility of losing Monica. Although Chandler is best-known for his sarcasm, it’s interesting to learn deeper details about him when taking his fears into account. Fans will come to realize just how complex his personality is after learning of these facts.
To Be Put On The Spot
Many fans feel that Chandler is like a walking meme in Friends, with many of his antics leading to hilarious pratfalls. These usually result from his fear of being put on the spot, which makes Chandler start blabbing and dig a deeper hole for himself.
This was seen in times like when he got transferred to Tulsa without realizing it, not wanting to admit to a room full of people that he’d fallen asleep. Chandler also claimed he “could die” when Monica urged him to ask out Kathy, as he felt that putting himself out like that was a particularly scary idea.
For There To Be Dissent Among His Loved Ones
Chandler is scared of reliving his parents’ divorce, which had a heavy impact on his life and insecurities. Since he saw his friends as his new family, he would become scared of having to be forced to watch them destroy their relationships and the social group as a result.
Chandler’s inability to cope with this fear saw him turn to smoking cigarettes when Ross and Rachel had broken up. He became addicted to them in order to push down the fears he was experiencing from the acrimonious situation the friends had found themselves in.
To Be Near A Dog
An episode dedicated to someone being afraid of a dog is a storyline few shows other than Friends could have done. But that’s when Chandler’s fear of dogs showed up, as he revealed he was morbidly afraid of them to the point that he lied about allergies for several years.
Although he surprisingly got over his fear of the one Phoebe took in, Chandler returned to being scared of dogs later on. He went so far as to claim that Mike’s dog, Chappy, could sense his fright and was going to go for his exposed neck. Chandler also envisioned having a cat as a pet in his family home because he wanted nothing to do with dogs.
For Someone To Be Angry At Him
Chandler goes to great lengths to ensure people around him are happy, specifically toward him. When confronted for spilling secrets, Chandler openly admitted he did so because it made people like him. Chandler was also outright scared of being in the company of an angry person.
The fear of such a confrontation saw Chandler promote his secretary when she was supposed to be fired, and pretend to be in a relationship with Joey’s sister so that he didn’t have to suffer the wrath of the latter’s family. Of course, he had to experience this fear come to life more often than not in embarrassing ways.
To Come Across Janice
There are certain things Friends fans dislike about Chandler, one of them being the way he treated Janice like an abhorrent person. The fanbase finds her to be charming, but Chandler felt quite the opposite, so much so that he became afraid of encountering her each time.
Chandler’s fear of meeting Janice was such that he pretended to move to Yemen so he didn’t have to be in contact with her. He even went as far as to actually fly to Yemen when he couldn’t shake her off. Chandler was deathly afraid of Janice moving in across his and Monica’s new home and had to make up an elaborate lie so she would change her mind.
To Lose His Closest Friends
There have been times in Friends when Chandler did bad things to Joey, Ross, and the rest of the group. These are generally harmless but Chandler has crossed the line on occasion. He remains mindful not to do so again because of the fear of losing his friends.
This was best seen when he locked himself in a box to make up to Joey for kissing Kathy, along with other occasions like trying to kiss Ross to apologize for deleting work from his computer. Chandler didn’t grow up having any friends and the thought of being friendless once more isn’t one he wants to deal with.
For People To Underestimate Him As He Does Himself
Chandler makes various remarks about himself as part of his self-deprecating humor. While he does have a low opinion about his self-worth, he’s afraid that others see him the same way. This was realized when Ross and Rachel claimed they wouldn’t be comfortable making Chandler the sole guardian of Emma, leaving him depressed.
Chandler doesn’t let the opportunity come up for anyone to point out his flows by being the one to state them himself. Inside, he’s afraid that others think little of him, which feeds into his insecurities. He craves external validation and is scared that the world might underestimate him just as he fears.
To Make A Commitment
Although he finally got over this fear by the end of the series, a commitment was Chandler’s primary issue for most of Friends. The reason behind this had to do with the terrible marriage of his parents that Chandler had to suffer through, convincing him that all relationships were a power struggle.
Chandler has broken up with past girlfriends for hilarious reasons or at the first sign of an argument, later realizing this was the reason he was alone. His fear of commitment even threatened his wedding to Monica, as Chandler freaked out at the reality of being a married man and the chance that he might mess it up.
To Mess Things Up With Monica
Monica was the only woman who tolerated Chandler’s commitment issues and he switched his fears to the idea of ruining their relationship. This took on hilarious turns such as him proposing to Monica just so they could make up for a silly fight, along with becoming afraid of Monica’s anger.
It took him a long time to get around to the idea of marriage, as Chandler was scared that Monica might find flaws in him that she didn’t like if they got hitched. Fortunately for him, Monica was understanding of his issues and Chandler progressed in their relationship at a steady pace. But his fear still remained, as seen when he was threatened by a man who could make Monica laugh harder than he could.
For Richard To Steal Monica From Him
Richard could count as Chandler’s greatest fear because of his great insecurity of not matching up to him. Having once idolized Richard himself, Chandler became scared of how much of a catch the former was and the possibility that Monica might return to Richard.
Even after he was firmly out of the picture, Chandler routinely brought Richard up against Monica with the suspicion that she might be comparing the two of them. Funnily enough, Chandler openly admitted that he was scared of Richard and was terrified of confronting him. To his credit, Chandler managed to live with this fear without harming his relationship with Monica.