There was a time in movies and on TV when capuchin monkeys were actually quite popular. One might want to say that any animal can be popular if they’re given the right role, but while the statement isn’t wrong, Friends wasn’t a big set so therefore a pair of acting monkeys were brought on board to share the part of Marcel, Ross’s pet capuchin. It’s likely to be debated, but even the thought of having a monkey in an apartment building feels like trouble, but the Friends cast worked with this idea as much as possible, as Monkey and Katie were already known to appear in other sitcoms and projects when needed. Monkey was a little more relaxed so Katie tended to take the action scenes, but was at times a little hard to deal with, which is easy to understand since some animals can be. Like humans, animals get tired, cranky, and express these emotions in different ways, but often not in a vocal manner that humans attempt.
But one of the main issues came when the cameras were off, since there was no real connection between David Schwimmer and the two monkeys, as the handlers wouldn’t allow this it sounds like. It sounds as though the handlers would tell Schwimmer where he needed to stand and how to interact and how to react, but that was it. There was no time to bond with Monkey and Katie, which means that whatever was captured on screen had to be good enough since the chemistry between them wasn’t really allowed to grow. That’s a bit unfortunate since between humans animals a bond is still needed to perform, especially given that there aren’t as many vocal cues between them. But those that watched the show can probably agree that what was seen in seasons 1 and 2 was good enough to pass muster.
Since then it sounds as though the two capuchins have still been working and showing up on occasion here and there since monkeys on TV and in movies are still considered pretty cute and audiences respond well to them. The character of Marcel was rehomed and ended up in the zoo before becoming a big star, though not much was said about the capuchin after that. The fact is that since neither of the monkeys was given the chance to bond, the cast agreed that they had to go, meaning the character of Marcel would have to be written out of the story. It’s understandable that the handlers wouldn’t want the capuchins getting too attached to the actors, but at the same time, it might have kept them around for a bit simply because the on-screen chemistry would have worked. It’s very likely that Marcel could have had a lot of moments throughout the length of the show that might have been even funnier and more endearing, but it simply wasn’t meant to be. There might be some that would love to argue that having an animal onset is still a big liability even if they’re trained, and they’re not entirely wrong since even a trained animal can have a bad day and do something that might be construed as troubling, which could be anything from being aggressive towards someone or proving unwilling to get into the act.
The thing with having trained animals is that it sometimes depends on the setting, the type of show, and the overall feel of how things are going to be since there are shows that it feels some animals wouldn’t be suited for, while there are shows that lend themselves quite well to the use of some animals so long as the safety and care of the said animals are taken into account. Talk shows have brought live animals on in the past and have had a lot of success, movies have used animals, as have other TV shows, and a lot of them have done well enough that they managed to make rather pleasing memories for the audience. For Friends, Marcel was widely accepted but it felt as though the capuchins could have been nixed as an idea for a character and not a lot would have changed with the characters since Marcel didn’t get to stick around that long. Had this been the case, had Marcel been there for more than just a little over one season, then it might have been seen that the show would have changed in a noticeable manner. But when it was made apparent that it just wouldn’t work it was time to say goodbye to Marcel. The character was written out in a nice way since nothing bad happened and Marcel is probably still remembered by a lot of fans. But again, sometimes animals work in TV shows, and sometimes they don’t. It happens sometimes.
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