The 10-year run ended on May 6, 2004, when the cast of Friends placed their coffee cups down and permanently left Central Perk.
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer became well-known actors because of the New York set program. When the pilot initially aired in September 1994, they were largely unknown.
But since the show’s end, what have the Friends been doing?
Jennifer Aniston
Aniston played a leading role in successful movies like Bruce Almighty, The Good Girl, and Along Came Polly. After leaving Friends, she starred in the 2009 rom-com Marley & Me and The Break-Up (2006). He isn’t that into you. We’re the Millers (2013), and Horrible Bosses (2011) made hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office.
Aniston teamed up with Reese Witherspoon to act in and co-produce the Apple TV+ drama The Morning Show last year, which was her first leading TV job since Friends ended.
Lisa Kudrow
In the past 16 years, Kudrow has mainly played cameos and supporting parts on screen, but she has been active behind the camera, earning several honors. Kudrow co-wrote, executive produced and co-created the HBO sitcom The Comeback after Friends ended. The actress also made the comedy Web Therapy on Showtime from 2011 to 2015.
Her most prominent on-screen roles after leaving Friends are in Easy A (2010), Neighbors (2014), The Girl on the Train (2016), and 2019’s Booksmart. She will play a Lead in 2023 in Taika Watiti’s ‘Time Bandit Series.
David Schwimmer
Schwimmer took on a few roles while filming the comedy, most notably in the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers. He was the director of the Simon Pegg-starring British comedy Run Fatboy Run in 2007. Schwimmer also directed many episodes of the American version of the sketch program Little Britain, the 2008 off-Broadway production Fault Lines, and his 2010 second film, Trust.
Additionally, he provided the voice of Melman the giraffe in the beloved Madagascar cartoon film and had supporting appearances in Entourage, 30 Rock, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. His most well-known on-screen performance since Friends may be as Robert Kardashian in the critically acclaimed FX series American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson.
Courteney Cox
Cox’s most notable performances were in the horror classics Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), and Scream 3 (2000). Her most memorable performance since 2004 was as a recently divorced mother yearning for love in the ABC comedy series Cougar Town (2009–2015).
Matthew Perry
Perry has acted as a lead in financially successful Hollywood movies like Fools Rush In (1997) and The Whole Nine Yards (2000). He has maintained a lower profile than most of his Friends co-stars since then, acting in lesser shows and movies and taking extended absences from the media.
The most well-known of his films, 17 Again from 2009, is about a parent who reclaims his adolescent form. Other writing credits for the actor include the 2011 comedy Mr. Sunshine, which he created, and the CBS sitcom The Odd Couple, which he also produced and acted in. The Good Wife and The Good Fight, two legal TV series, both featured him.
Matt LeBlanc
From Friends’ conclusion until 2006, the actor starred in the TV series Joey, which followed the jobbing Tribbiani’s life in Hollywood when he left New York in search of stardom.
In the TV show aired from 2013 to 2017, LeBlanc played a parody of himself. LeBlanc had a five-year break from acting when the spin-off was canceled before making a comeback in Episodes in 2011. Since 2016, he has starred in the CBS comedy Man with a Plan. LeBlanc has expanded his career into hosting, serving from 2016 to 2018 as one of the new hosts of the television program Top Gear.
