Photo: NBC
Of all the TV show culprits worthy of a reunion, Friends seems to be the usual suspect, mainly due to their chemistry and the fact that none of them are currently incarcerated (way to go, Dustin Diamond ). You may be surprised how well off the cast of Friends is doing right now, considering their soaring stardom in the ‘90s. Then again, Donald Trump is President Elect right now so anything goes.
So while you awesome folks saw what the cast of Family Matters and Growing Pains are up to today , it’s time to look at what the cast of what was arguably one of the best sitcoms of ’90s is up to now.
You May Be Surprised Where the Cast of ‘Friends’ Is Right Now
Well, a Friends reunion was done recently on NBC (without Matthew Perry) but it was just the cast paying to director James Burrows. What we really want to see is for Friends to return to a TV sitcom reunion (ala Full House) . Now get on it, Netflix, this is something the fans need (I need it mostly).
Friends Then And Now
Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green)
While we definitely miss the hard nips of Rachel Green , we know Jennifer Aniston still remains hard (at work) in film. This season’s holiday comedy features Aniston alongside Olivia Munn and Kate McKinnon, as well as former comedy co-star, Jason Bateman (The Switch ) and T.J. Miller, in Office Christmas Party . The role of a sexy hard-ass office exec comes after Aniston’s twice-played role of sexy dental dominatrix in the Horrible Bosses movies.
She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in Cake in 2014 and was married to The Leftovers star, Justin Theroux, in 2015, whom she co-starred with in 2012’s Wanderlust , as well as with former Friends costar, Paul Rudd.
Photo: NBC/Getty
Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani)
Though his IMDB credits are few since Friends , LeBlanc has managed to be one of the few stars to avoid failed spinoffs , hanging into multi-season roles in Joey , Episodes and the new Man with a Plan . He won an Emmy for Episodes , in which he plays a fictionalized take on himself.
LeBlanc has been divorced from his first wife for more than a decade, having dated his Joey costar, Andrea Anders, up until 2015. His new show, Man with a Plan , premiered in October.
Photo: NBC/Getty
David Schwimmer (Ross Geller)
While Dr. Ross Geller was our favorite lab-coat nerd, he’s broken out with some very different roles since the heyday of Friends . Schwimmer led off his first year after the sitcom with a hilariously agitated role in Curb Your Enthusiasm , playing himself attempting Broadway across from Larry David in 2004. He kept it quiet for a few years with Madagascar voiceovers until his back-to-back heavy hitter roles in Feed the Beast and a Robert Kardashian in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story , both in 2016. Feed the Beast was cancelled after ten episodes.
After getting into directing bits of the last five years of Friends , Schwimmer continued on with a couple episodes of Joey before directing a six-episode series Little Britain USA in 2006 and a TV pilot for Growing Up Fisher in 2014. Schwimmer was married 2010 and had his first child in 2011.
Photo: NBC/Getty
Courteney Cox (Monica Geller)
She may have been acting in the ‘80s, but Courteney Cox got big (had to do it) when she went from Family Ties in 1989 to Friends by 1994. Her film break came mid-Monica Geller with the Scream franchise in 1996, shortly after her role across the Pet Det. himself, Jim Carrey, in 1994. Although her role on Friends was possibly her pinnacle, the success would not stop with the 2004 finale, as she left the friendly sextet for a solo shot on 2007’s two-season Dirt , quickly followed up in 2009 with Cougar Town , which ran until 2015.
Cox started directing TV, beginning with Cougar Town , and owns a production, which she started with her ex-husband David Arquette, whom she divorced in early 2013. Since then, she’s been dating her now-fiancé, Johnny McDaid, the lead singer of Snow Patrol, 12 years her junior.
Photo: NBC/Getty
Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing)
Out of all the gang members reluctant to reunite, it seems Matthew Perry, Mr. Funny Man himself, is alone on that front. While the witty humor of Chandler Bing was a hit, Perry has struggled with addiction to pain killers and alcohol, prefacing a string of one-season cancellations: Mr. Sunshine , Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Go On .
After 2013, he found some stride in recurring roles on successful running shows, The Good Wife and The Odd Couple . Perry is now in production with a new mini-series as Ted Kennedy on Kennedys After Camelot .” He dated Masters of Se x star, Lizzy Caplan from 2006 to 2012 and opened a sober living facility in his former Malibu home.
Photo: NBC/Getty
Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay)
Of all the friends, we were surprised to hear Kudrow found success the quickest, busting out of the gate with an Emmy nominated debut on HBO’s The Comeback in 2005, which returned from a second season in 2015, also earning her an Emmy nom for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. And while she was known for Analyze This and Analyze That (and come on, obviously (Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion ) during her Smelly Cat days, Kudrow has since been in Neighbors , Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising and our new favorite female film, The Girl on the Train . She can also be seen in this year’s episodes of Angie Tribeca and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
She was married early on in Friends in 1995, having her child in communion with the show’s plot for her to be a surrogate mother to her brother, played by the brilliant Giovanni Ribisi.
Photo: NBC/Getty
Giovanni Ribisi (Frank Buffay Jr./Condom Boy)
We thought Phoebe was an airhead, that was, until we met Frank, played gracefully by a young Giovanni Ribisi. He’s gone on to play a number of vastly different film roles since, from the young Kip Raines in 2000’s Gone in 60 Seconds to a regular schmo in 2003’s Lost in Translation to a creepy back-to-back villain role in Seth MacFarlene’s Ted franchise, as well as One Million Ways to Die in the West .
Ribisi had recurring roles on Dads and My Name Is Earl , and he’s currently involved with a recurring role on Sneaky Pete .
Photo: NBC/Getty
James Michael Tyler (Gunther)
When it comes to cozy fictional coffee shops , Central Perk is top slot. And the place wouldn't be complete without the bleach-blonde creeping of Gunther himself, who made an appearance at the recent Central Perk pop-up coffee shop replica in both 2009 and 2014. Aside from a few one-off TV appearances on shows like Scrubs and Episodes , the latter of which he continued his role of Gunther, Tyler was quiet up until his 2013 recurring spot on Modern Music .
Photo: NBC
Maggie Wheeler (Janice)
Across the 10 years of the show’s running, Janice’s laugh plagued our ears for 19 total episodes as she squawked in and out of each leading man’s life. Wheeler simultaneously had a recurring role during the same span on Everybody Loves Raymond , but the Parent Trap actress didn’t stop there, as she continued on to play guest pain-in-the-ass roles on major shows like “Curb Your Enthusiasm , How I Met Your Mother , Californication and, most recently, Maron .
Photo: NBC/Getty
Paul Rudd (Mike Hannigan)
We needn’t say much because anyone not up to speed with the life of Rudd is living under a rock, but it’s noteworthy to mention his spot on Friends was really only prefaced by Clueless and Wet Hot American Summer . Our point: His role as Mike (who dated Phoebe) prefaced his guest appearance on Parks and Recreation , along with all his big movies (Anchorman , The 40-Year-Old Virgin , Role Models ), which lead to his role as Ant-Man in a solo film, leading into Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. So in short, we owe Friends for the Rudd we know today, lest we be stuff with more Tobey Maguire movies.
Photo: Getty