"Not 'Friends' Anymore: An Update on the Cast's Post-Show Careers"

[JamesG]

Not "Friends" Anymore: An Update on the Cast's Post-Show Careers
by Rich Keller
posted Jun 17th 2010


Here's an updated status of who's involved where, plus some additional information on the supporting characters that were connected with the show during its decade on the air.





Courteney Cox






Renewed for a second season way back in January, "Cougar Town" is now a solid part of ABC's Wednesday comedy lineup. Much of that credit can be given to the direction the show has taken.

Instead of the story focusing just on Cox's character, the program has evolved into a strong ensemble comedy that, when you think of it, may be the older, suburban version of "Friends".









Lisa Kudrow






After her HBO series "The Comeback", Kudrow took a break from regular series. After a few small movie and TV roles, including a guest spot on "Cougar Town" back in the winter, Kudrow is coming back strong with not one, but two television projects.


First is NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?", which Kudrow executive produces and was renewed for a second season.

Second is the move of her successful web series "Web Therapy" to Showtime. Infused with newly filmed segments, "Web Therapy" will be upgraded to a standard 30-minute comedy.









Matthew Perry






Things are looking up for Perry after his lackluster movie career and the disaster that was "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip".


The former Chandler Bing will be joining former co-star Cox on ABC with the new comedy "Mr. Sunshine", which was officially picked up by the network.









Matt LeBlanc






When you think of Matt LeBlanc the phrase 'fell off the face of the earth' probably comes to mind. However, things may be turning around now that he's part of the new Showtime/BBC2 comedy series "Episodes".

From a teaser preview released a few months ago, this may be the hit LeBlanc thought "Joey" would be for him.









Jennifer Aniston






Jennifer Aniston's career is a strange one.


While she's considered a movie star and has made a few TV appearances since "Friends" ended, she's really not that busy. Yet, she's always in 'People' or in one of the tabloids for some reason.

With an OK movie career it might not be a bad idea for her to come back to television full-time to headline a new show.









David Schwimmer






Out of all the "Friends" cast members it seems that Schwimmer is the least likely to return to TV full-time.


Turning his attention to theater, David recently ended a role in the Broadway production of 'The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.'

He also completed a successful three-month run of the play 'Trust,' which he co-wrote and directed. The play, which depicts the tragic circumstances of an apparently innocent online encounter, has been optioned out as a film.

If things go right, David may be the most successful of all the "Friends" cast members.






As for the supporting cast and recurring guest stars...





Jon Favreau






After portraying Monica's boyfriend in season 3, Favreau kept busy with a number of jobs, including voice acting roles in shows like "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" and "G-Force".

He also went behind the camera as director of the movies Elf and Zathura: A Space Adventure.


Oh, and he directed and produced a little-known movie called Iron Man and its sequel. Overall, not too shabby.









Tom Selleck






Things have gone well since Selleck appeared as Monica's much older boyfriend in the 2nd season of "Friends".


He portrayed General Dwight Eisenhower in the award-winning Ike: Countdown to D-Day and ended up as the new owner of the Montecito during the last season of "Las Vegas".


Since 1995 he's portrayed Chief Jesse Stone in a series of CBS made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B. Parker novels.

Come this fall he'll be coming back to CBS in the new crime drama "Blue Bloods" as a New York City police chief.









Tate Donovan






Aniston's love interest during the show's fourth season, Donovan hasn't been lacking work.


After spending a few years voicing a number of Disney animated characters, Donovan landed a role as Jimmy Cooper on the teen soap "The O.C."

Right after that he portrayed Tom Shayes on "Damages".


He was supposed to be part of the cast of the new ABC super-hero series "No Ordinary Family", but was recently let go due to re-tooling of the pilot.









Paul Rudd






Phoebe's boyfriend and eventual husband during the last few seasons of "Friends", Rudd made the big time shortly after the show ended as part of the hit movies Anchorman and The 40 Year-Old Virgin.


He's also appeared in Night at the Museum, Knocked Up, and "Reno 911!"


He is creator and currently one of the producers of the Starz comedy "Party Down".









James Michael Tyler






You may not know his real name, but in the "Friends" universe he was known simply as Gunther, the head coffee guy at Central Perk.


Tyler hasn't done much since the show ended; appearing as himself in a number of VH1/TV Land compilation shows about the greatest TV shows and romances.

It looks like his next project is an independent comedy called Jason's Big Problem about a guy with a small pee-pee who gets a big pee-pee after taking a natural growth product.









Maggie Wheeler






Ohhh! My! God!

Maggie Wheeler's Janice appeared at least once or twice a season, and in a multi-episode arc in season three as Chandler's girlfriend.


She's kept herself busy with a number of voice acting and guest-starring roles on such shows as Disney's "Kim Possible" and "Suite Life on Deck", "How I Met Your Mother", and "Without a Trace".



She recently completed a stint as a voice actor on the FX animated series "Archer".

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/06/17/no...-show-careers/

[AB]

Thanks for the cast update.

[80sTrivia]

It was great reading up on what's going on with all of our "Friends"!

[bretnsid]

Great updates.

I don't wanna sound harsh but....is that just a really bad picture of Matt LeBlanc that is in your post? I don't think I've seen him in any way (TV, pictures, etc...) since Joey got canceled, but has his hair really turned that gray? It looks like he aged a lot too, but it might just be a bad picture of him.

I don't mean in in a rude way, but I'm just curious...

Also, does David Schwimmer have that hairstyle now, or was it like a one-time thing? It looks kooky.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by bretnsid

Great updates.

I don't wanna sound harsh but....is that just a really bad picture of Matt LeBlanc that is in your post? I don't think I've seen him in any way (TV, pictures, etc...) since Joey got canceled, but has his hair really turned that gray? It looks like he aged a lot too, but it might just be a bad picture of him.

I don't mean in in a rude way, but I'm just curious...

Also, does David Schwimmer have that hairstyle now, or was it like a one-time thing? It looks kooky.

I believe that for the main cast those are all current photos.

All of those photos are from the original article, with the exception of the Supporting Cast ones. I got those on my own since the original article did not give photos for them.