'Friends' stars: Where are they now? - NBC Montana
'Friends' stars: Where are they now?
Posted: Jun 15, 2016 12:11 AM MDT
Updated: Jun 15, 2016 12:11 AM MDT
'Friends' stars: Where are they now?
With Courteney Cox celebrating her 52nd birthday on Wednesday, what better time to check in with her and the rest of your favorite "Friends" from the classic '90s sitcom?
Courteney Cox played the uptight Monica Geller on "Friends."
During her time on "Friends," Cox branched out into movies, appearing in the high-profile horror movie franchise "Scream," as reporter Gale Weathers. She started dating her co-star David Arquette, with the two marrying between seasons five and six of "Friends" and Cox changing her name to Courteney Cox Arquette.
After "Friends," Cox starred as Lucy Spiller, a cynical tabloid editor, in the FX drama "Dirt," on which she and Arquette served as executive producers. The show lasted two seasons before being canceled in 2008, while the couple split up in 2010 and eventually divorced in 2013. Between 2009 and 2015, Cox starred in the sitcom "Cougar Town," which started on ABC and then moved to TBS in early 2013. She most recently appeared in the indie drama "Mothers and Daughters," released in May 2016.
Playing the role of Rachel Green, Jennifer Aniston wowed audiences with her signature haircut and had fans cheering for Rachel and Ross. The role earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Even while "Friends" was on the air, Aniston was finding time to star in movies, landing in roles in movies such as "She's the One," "Office Space," "Rock Star," "The Good Girl" and "Bruce Almighty." After the show ended, she focused entirely on her movie career and has starred in such box office hits as "Marley & Me," "Just Go With It," "Horrible Bosses" and "We're the Millers." Her most recent roles came in the drama "Cake," which earned her a Golden Globe nomination, the comedy sequel "Horrible Bosses 2," and the 2016 romantic comedy "Mother's Day."
Lisa Kudrow played the eccentric Phoebe Buffay, an eccentric masseuse and self-taught musician who sang quirky songs such as "Smelly Cat."
After the series ended Kudrow dabbled in TV and movies. She appeared in movies that include "P.S. I Love You," "Hotel For Dogs" and "Easy A." On the TV side, she starred in the one-season HBO series "The Comeback" in 2005 and starred in the Showtime series "Web Therapy" from 2011 to 2015. "The Comeback" also returned in 2014 for another season. Her most recent roles have come in the sitcoms "Angie Tribeca" and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and in the comedy "Neighbor" and it's 2016 sequel.
Matthew Perry played the funny, sarcastic, insecure Chandler Bing in "Friends," who was the college roommate of Ross and the eventual boyfriend and husband of Monica.
After initially struggling to find success after "Friends," including the short-lived TV series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," "Mr. Sunshine" and "Go On," Perry has found success again with his remake of "The Odd Couple," which he co-created and is also executive producing. The sitcom, which sees Perry playing slob Oscar Madison opposite Thomas Lennon as the clean freak Felix Unger, premiered in February 2015 and has been renewed for a third season for the fall of 2016. Perry will next be seen playing Ted Kennedy in the 2017 miniseries "The Kennedys After Camelot."
Matt LeBlanc played the handsome, struggling actor Joey Tribbiani in "Friends," who was also Chandler's roommate for much of the series.
After "Friends" ended, LeBlanc got a spinoff sitcom titled "Joey," with Joey Tribbiani moving to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. NBC canceled the show, which co-starred Drea de Matteo as Joey's sister, partway through its second season in 2006. In 2011, LeBlanc began starring as a fictional version of himself in the Showtime comedy series "Episodes." He won a Golden Globe award in 2012 for his work on "Episodes," after being nominated for an Emmy three times for his work on "Friends." The role has also earned him four more Emmy nominations so far. With "Episodes" ending after its fifth season in 2017, he's also joined the retooled British car show "Top Gear" and will star in the CBS sitcom "Man with a Plan" starting in the fall of 2016.
David Schwimmer played Monica's brother, paleontologist Ross Geller, who was part of the "Ross and Rachel" on-again-off-again relationship.
For most of decade since "Friends" went off the air, Schwimmer's most high-profile role came voicing the character of Melman the giraffe in the "Madagascar" animated film series. After getting his feet wet directing 10 episodes of "Friends," he went onto direct a couple episodes of "Joey" before making his feature film directorial debut with 2007's "Run, Fatboy, Run." He directed his second movie, "Trust," in 2010. He's seen a career resurgence as of late, portraying Robert Kardashian in the FX miniseries "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story" and starring in the AMC drama "Feed the Beast."
James Michael Tyler played Gunther, a coffee shop employee who was in unrequited love with Rachel, in "Friends." He appeared in 147 of the show's 236 episodes, easily making him the recurring character with the most appearances.
In 2012, Tyler joined LeBlanc in an episode of "Episodes," playing himself. He has also appeared in the TV movie "Keeping Up with the Downs" and the movie "Jason's Big Problem" since "Friends" ended. He was also a regular in the web series "Modern Music."
Maggie Wheeler played Janice, Chandler's annoying on-again-off-again girlfriend, appearing in 19 episodes throughout the series.
While appearing on "Friends," Wheeler also landed a recurring role on "Everybody Loves Raymond," playing a friend of Patricia Heaton's character. She's gone on to guest spots on TV series such as "Fat Actress," "Drake & Josh," "ER," "Friday Night Lights," "How I Met Your Mother," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Closer." One of her most recent roles came in 2013 as a recurring character on the sixth season of "Californication."
Tom Selleck played Monica's much-older boyfriend, Dr. Richard Burke, over seven episodes during the second and third seasons of "Friends." He also made a return appearance in the two-part season six finale.
Since his role on the sitcom Selleck has had roles in popular TV series that include "Boston Legal" and "Las Vegas." He has also starred in the "Jesse Stone" series of TV movies, based off Robert B. Parker's novels, and is currently starring in the TV drama "Blue Bloods."
In 2002, Paul Rudd joined "Friends" as Mike Hannigan, who dates and eventually marries Phoebe. Rudd, best known for roles in "Clueless" and "The Object of My Affection" when he joined the sitcom, appeared in a total of 18 episodes.
Rudd has since starred in hit movies that include: "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," "Knocked Up," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," "I Love You, Man," "Wanderlust," "This is 40" and "Admission." He landed his biggest movie role to date in the 2015 Marvel film "Ant-Man" as the lead character and again played the character in 2016's "Captain America: Civil War."
Elliott Gould played the humorous father of Ross and Monica, Jack Geller, in "Friends," appearing in a total of 20 episodes over the course of the series.
Gould, the star of such movies as "M*A*S*H," "The Long Goodbye" and "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," the last of which earned him an Oscar nomination, has gone on to appear in movies such as "Ocean's Twelve," "Ocean's Thirteen," "Saving Sarah Cain," "The Caller" and "Contagion" since "Friends" ended. He also had a recurring role on the Showtime drama "Ray Donovan" (pictured) and has had cameos on TV series like "Law & Order," "CSI," "The Cape" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." He also returned to TV comedy in 2014 with a role in the since-canceled sitcom "Mulaney."
Christina Pickles, best known for her long-running, Emmy-nominated role of nurse Helen Rosenthal in the hospital drama "St. Elsewhere," played Monica and Ross' mother, Judy Geller.
Since "Friends" she has made guest appearances on many TV series, including "Medium," "How I Met Your Mother," "Friends with Benefits" and "Animal Practice" (pictured). She has also appeared in TV movies that include "Kat Plus One" and "Flower Girl."
Jane Sibbett played Carol, Ross' ex-wife who leaves him for another woman. Since "Friends," Sibbett has had guest spots on TV series such as "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," "Ally McBeal" and "Once and Again." She most recently appeared in the 2016 direct-to-video movie "Jessica Darling's It List," her first on-screen role since 2008.
Jessica Hecht played Susan, the wife of Ross' ex-wife Carol, in "Friends," appearing in a total of 12 episodes.
Hecht has been extremely busy since her stint on "Friends," appearing in movies such as "Sideways," "Dan in Real Life," "Fair Game," "Whatever Works," "The Sitter" and "J. Edgar." She's also had guest spots on TV shows such as "Law & Order," "The Good Wife," "Nurse Jackie," "Elementary," "Limitless" and "Jessica Jones," and had recurring roles on "Bored to Death," "Breaking Bad" and "Person of Interest."
Helen Baxendale played Ross' second wife, Emily, who Ross humiliates on her wedding day when he says Rachel's name instead of hers during their vows. The English actress appeared in 13 episodes during the show's fourth and fifth seasons.
After her stint as Mrs. Geller, Baxendale has done much of her work in her native England, appearing in British TV series such as "An Unsuitable Job For A Woman," "Cold Feet," "Kidnap and Ransom" and "Cuckoo." Her most recent roles came in the British TV series "Death in Paradise" (pictured) and "Law & Order: UK."
Just as she was beginning to land bigger roles, including the movies "The Postman" and "Rushmore," Olivia Williams appeared in three episodes of "Friends" in a bit role, playing Emily's bridesmaid Felicity, who has a brief fling with Joey during the Ross and Emily's wedding in England. Her role was so small she was actually only credited in one of the episodes.
Williams went on to star in "The Sixth Sense" opposite Bruce Willis and has also starred in movies such as "An Education," "Hanna," "Anna Karenina," "The Last Days on Mars" and "Sabotage." She also starred in the short-lived series "Dollhouse" and "Manhattan."
Giovanni Ribisi began appearing in a recurring role on "Friends" during the show's second season, playing Phoebe's brother Frank Buffay Jr. The character appeared in a total of nine episodes, with Phoebe eventually serving as a surrogate mother for him and his wife and delivering triplets.
Ribisi has gone on to appear in movies such as "Cold Mountain," "Public Enemies," "Avatar," "Contraband," "Ted," "Gangster Squad" and "A Million Ways to Die in the West." He also starred in the short-lived Fox sitcom "Dads," which lasted one season before being canceled in May 2014.
Debra Jo Rupp played Alice Knight, Frank's girlfriend and eventual wife, in six episodes. Originally Frank's home economics teacher, the two stick together despite an age gap of 26 years.
Toward the tail end of her appearances on "Friends," Rupp landed the role of Kitty Forman on the Fox sitcom "That '70s Show," the role is she is probably most known for. She also appeared on the short-lived sitcom "Better with You" in 2010-11.
Aisha Tyler played Charlie Wheeler, a paleontology professor who dates both Joey and Ross, appearing in a total of nine episodes during the ninth and tenth seasons of "Friends."
Tyler has gone on to recurring roles on "24," "CSI" and "Ghost Whisperer" and has appeared in the movies "Balls of Fury" and "Bedtime Stories." She's also had guest spots on "Boston Legal," "Glee," "Hawaii Five-0" and "Modern Family," but her most high-profile role has come off-screen, voicing spy Lana Kane on the FX animated series "Archer."
Eddie Cahill appeared in seven episodes of "Friends" in 2000 and 2001, playing Tag Jones, a younger man whom Rachel hires as her assistant at Ralph Lauren. She eventually has a fling with him.
After "Friends," Cahill played "Miracle on Ice" goalie Jim Craig in 2004's "Miracle." But he is probably best known for playing Detective Don Flack on "CSI: NY" for nine seasons. He also joined the cast of the CBS drama "Under the Dome" for its second and third seasons and will next be seen on the ABC legal drama "Conviction," premiering in the fall of 2016.
After a breakout role in 1996's "Swingers," Jon Favreau appeared in six episodes of "Friends" the following year, playing Pete Becker, a millionaire manager of a computer corporation whom Monica briefly dates. Pete memorably and hopelessly became involved in Ultimate Fighting in his last episode, leading to his breakup with Monica.
Favreau has gone on to appear in movies such as "The Replacements," "Made," "The Break-Up," "Identity Thief" and the "Iron Man" series. He's also spent more time behind the camera, directing "Made," "Elf," the first two "Iron Man" movies, "Cowboys & Aliens," "Chef" and "The Jungle Book."
Michael Rapaport played Gary, a cop dating Phoebe, in four episodes during the show's fifth season in 1999.
Rapaport has gone on to appear in many movies, including "Deep Blue Sea," "Small Time Crooks" and "The Heat," and was a regular on the TV series "Boston Public." He's also had recurring roles on "Prison Break," "My Name Is Earl," "The Mob Doctor" and "Justified" (pictured).
Anna Faris appeared on five episodes of "Friends" in 2004, playing Erica, the young woman who gives birth to Chandler and Monica's adopted twins.
Faris, who was already relatively well known for the first three "Scary Movie" films when she appeared on "Friends," has gone on to star in movies such as "Just Friends," "The House Bunny," "Observe and Report," "Take Me Home Tonight" and "The Dictator." She's also voiced a main role in both "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" movies and now stars in the sitcom "Mom," which debuted in 2013. She's seen here with her husband, "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Jurassic World" star Chris Pratt, in July 2014.
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