‘Friends’ 25th Anniversary: See How Jennifer Aniston & More Have Changed Over The Years
by Avery ThompsonIt’s HBO Max day! With the launch of WarnerMedia’s streaming service, a slew of shows and movies are coming to a small screen near you, including a longtime favorite: ‘Friends!’ See the cast 25 years later!
Friends premiered Sept. 22, 1994 and quickly became an instant hit, running for 10 seasons on NBC. Friends catapulted Jennifer Aniston, 51, Courteney Cox, 55, Lisa Kudrow, 56, Matthew Perry, 50, David Schwimmer, 53, and Matt LeBlanc, 52, to superstardom. Thanks to reruns and Netflix and now it’s new home at HBO Max, the show remains just as beloved and popular in 2020 as it was 25 years ago. Since the show ended in 2004, the cast has gone on to do big things. Here’s a look back at the cast 25 years later!
Jennifer, who played Rachel Green, is the biggest star to come out of Friends. After the show ended, she went on to star in movies like Rumor Has It, We’re The Millers, and Horrible Bosses. Jen didn’t return to TV in a regular series role until 2019 in Apple TV+’s The Morning Show. Just a year after Friends ended in 2004, Jennifer got a divorce from Brad Pitt. She married Justin Theroux in 2015 and they split in 2017. While Rachel went through a series of hairstyles over the 10 seasons, Jen’s hair has mostly stayed the same — light brown hair, golden highlights, and totally flawless.
Courteney, a.k.a. Monica Geller, went on to star in the TV show Cougar Town and movies such as Scream 4, Zoom, and Bedtime Stories. Just weeks after the Friends finale aired in 2004, Courteney welcomed her daughter, Coco, with then-husband David Arquette. Courteney and David got divorced in 2013. She is currently dating musician Johnny McDaid. As for Lisa, a.k.a. Phoebe, she starred in hit movies like Easy A, Neighbors, and Booksmart. Other than Phoebe, her best-known role is Valerie Cherish in the TV series The Comeback. Lisa is still married to Michel Stern, whom she married in 1995.
David, who played Ross Geller, notably voiced Melman the Giraffe in the Madagascar film franchise after Friends ended. He made his Broadway debut in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial in 2006 and feature film directorial debut in 2007 with Run Fatboy Run. He starred as Robert Kardashian in American Crime Story in 2016, the season that covered the OJ Simpson trial. His performance earned him his second Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He married Zoë Buckman in 2010 and they have one child together. They split in 2017.
Matthew, who played Chandler Bing, went on to star in a number of movies after Friends and had multiple roles on short-lived series like Go On and The Odd Couple. He voiced Benny in the video game Fallout: New Vegas. In August 2018, he had surgery for gastrointestinal perforation and spent 3 months recovering. He dated Lizzy Caplan from 2006 to 2012.
Matt reprised the role of Joey Tribbiani in the spinoff Joey, which ran for two seasons. He starred in the TV series Episodes from 2011 and 2017, for which he won a Golden Globe for his performance. Matt co-hosted Top Gear from 2016 to 2019 and played Adam on the CBS series Man with a Plan from 2016-2020. He is currently dating Aurora Mulligan. See the entire casts transformations in the gallery above! And don’t forget to check out Friends and so much more on HBO Max!