Everybody might love Ray, but that doesn't mean Ray Romano loved his first day on the job.
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The fan-favorite sitcom actor recently revealed that he was terrified during the first day of filming. At the time, Romano was inexperienced on set and was still reeling from being fired from a previous sitcom.
"I was doing stand-up for a living. A couple acting opportunities came up, and one of them was the show called NewsRadio," Romano explained during a panel with former writers Tom Caltabiano, Tucker Cawley, Mike Royce, Lew Schneider, Steve Skrovan and Aaron Shure, via PEOPLE. "I got cast in the original cast of NewsRadio. I'd never really acted before; I was doing stand-up. And on day two, I got fired."
However, when one door closes, another one usually opens. For Ray, that was the door to a role that thrust him into the global spotlight.
"Fast forward to the first day, and I'd just gotten fired from a sitcom, and this sitcom has my name ... and it was a little terrifying for me," he continued. "And I know when I watch that first season, I see myself get better towards the end of the season. I was a little stiff still, a little green."
Everybody Loves Raymond was a massive success. As the show grew, it began airing in multiple international markets, creating fans of the show across multiple different shores. Of course, those first-day nerves proved to be nothing more than an obstacle for Romano, but that clearly hasn't dampened the memory for him.
'Everybody Loves Raymond' Ran for Almost a Decade
Sitcom roles are notoriously insecure work. There are a thousand different reasons why a show doesn't get renewed for a second, third, fourth or even tenth season. Fan interest is usually near the bottom of the pile.
However, Everybody Loves Raymond ended up running for nine years. The show ran for 210 episodes between 1996 and 2005. Even now, 21 years after the final episode aired, it's fairly easy to stumble across reruns on cable. That's how impactful and beloved the show was; it stood the test of time in an ever-changing global landscape.
Romano made sure that when the show ended, he took a key piece of the set for memorabilia, too.
"That's the first thing I took. That's the only thing I wanted to take was the couch," Romano recently told PEOPLE.
Nevertheless, Romano's story is clear proof that sometimes nerves are a good thing. They keep you on your toes, ensure you perform at your best, and sometimes, can lead to a genuine piece of history. Romano will know that better than most.
