For the first time since the premiere of the NBC Thursday night staple "Friends," Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer have decided to submit their names for consideration in Emmy's outstanding lead actor and actress categories, reports Variety. In previous years (the show begins its ninth and, reportedly, final season this fall), the six had always entered themselves in the supporting actor races -- except two years ago, when Matthew Perry's publicists accidentally placed him in the lead actor category. The move caused Perry, who plays Chandler, to withdraw from that year's competition entirely. A spokesman for the sitcom's producer, Warner Bros. (which, like PEOPLE, is part of AOL Time Warner), would not remark on the cast's decision, which will likely pit them against such past Emmy winners as Kelsey Grammer, Ray Romano and Debra Messing. But the show's executive producer, Kevin Bright, recently told Variety that the cast -- currently coming off its hottest season critically and ratings-wise -- was preparing to reach its decision in the matter as a collective move. "Up until this point, they've submitted themselves in the supporting roles; the reason being they're all equal," Bright told Variety. "There's no real star of the show." Kudrow, who plays Phoebe, is the only "Friends" star ever to win an Emmy, in 1997.