Beyond 'Friends': The best roles of the cast of 'Friends' outside of the show

Aniston doesn’t have a huge role in “Office Space,” but she’s the star of one of the most memorable sequences: the flair scene. While playing Joanna, a waitress at a TGI Friday’s-like restaurant and the love interest of Peter (Ron Livingston), Aniston gets into a dispute with her manager over how many pieces of “flair” — buttons, pins and other uniform decorations — she is required to wear. Inspired by Peter’s do-what-you-feel attitude, she memorably ends the scene by flipping the bird at her boss and quitting on the spot.

Contrary to the name of the film, Aniston does not play a moral person in “The Good Girl,” but instead a depressed young wife who cheats on her husband (John C. Reilly) with a coworker (Jake Gyllenhaal). Aniston’s performance was acclaimed, and the relatively unknown film that only earned $16 million at the box office received positive marks from critics and currently holds an 81 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sure, “Marley & Me” is a sappy and predictable family film, but that’s exactly what audiences expected, and critics were kind to the 2008 David Frankel-directed effort. Aniston played one of Marley the dog’s owners alongside Owen Wilson, her on-screen husband, and both actors were commended for their roles and chemistry. Eric Dane, Alan Arkin and Kathleen Turner also appeared in supporting parts, propelling “Marley & Me” to a $248 million box-office haul.

Average guys Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) hatch a plan to kill each other's insufferable bosses, played by Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell and Aniston, respectively. Aniston’s character, Dr. Julia Harris, is a sexually aggressive dentist who constantly harasses Dale. The film and Aniston both received plenty of praise (with the actress earning an MTV Movie Award), her character survived the film and she reprised the role in the 2014 sequel “Horrible Bosses 2.”

The 2014 drama “Cake” earned mixed marks from critics, but almost every viewer and reviewer agreed that Aniston shined as the film’s protagonist, Claire Bennett. Bennett lost her son in a car accident, and her husband eventually left after she became hostile, manipulative, depressed, suicidal and addicted to painkillers. Although “Cake” was a box-office failure, Aniston earned nominations at the SAG, Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Awards, and she captured acting honors at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Capri-Hollywood Film Festival and People Magazine Awards.

One of Cox’s best roles outside of “Friends” came before the show even aired its first episode — in fact, it was 10 years before! In the Brian De Palma-directed video for Bruce Springsteen’s hit song “ Dancing in the Dark,” the Boss pulls a member of the Saint Paul, Minnesota audience up on stage to bust a move alongside him. That young lady was a 20-year-old Cox. Although Springsteen’s crowd selection wasn’t random — he was told to choose Cox — he thought she was just another fan, not a budding actress with a soap opera credit to her name.

A few months before “Friends” premiered, Cox appeared on another hit NBC sitcom, “Seinfeld.” In the season 5 episode “The Wife,” Cox plays a woman Jerry is dating, named Meryl, who pretends to be his wife in order to use Jerry’s 25 percent family discount at a local dry cleaner. It was only a one-episode stint for Cox, but since basically every “Seinfeld” episode is now a classic, it nevertheless remains a significant role for the actress.

Being a star of one of the most popular sitcoms on TV gave Cox the notoriety the producers of “Scream” wanted for the actress playing newscaster Gale Weathers, but they were initially concerned Cox was too likable to play the hard-nosed, manipulative character. However, Cox was seeking to be cast against her type and actively lobbied for her eventual inclusion in the Wes Craven slasher masterpiece. Weathers survived the original 1996 film, and Cox ended up reprising the role in “Scream 2” (1997), “Scream 3” (2000) and “Scream 4” (2011). In the movies, Cox appeared alongside her future husband (and also future ex-husband), David Arquette.

Although Cox continued to find steady work after “Friends,” she didn’t find a successful starring TV role again until the 2007 premiere of “Dirt,” an FX drama that Cox also executive produced with Arquette, as they were still married. In the show, Cox played Lucy Spiller, the head of a tabloid magazine called DirtNow. The series earned mixed reviews in its first season, followed by more favorable reviews for both Cox and the show as a whole in season 2. However, the writers’ strike abbreviate the second season to just seven episodes, and FX chose not to finish filming when the strike eventually ended.

Cox rebounded quickly from the cancellation of “Dirt” with a starring role in the ABC sitcom “Cougar Town.” Produced by Cox’s Coquette Productions and Doozer, a company owned by Bill Lawrence (“Scrubs”), “Cougar Town” centered on Jules Cobb (Cox), a recent divorcée moving onto the next phase of her life. ABC cancelled the show after three seasons, but a strong following fueled a continuation of “Cougar Town” on TBS. The title was often debated and almost changed numerous times (possibly to something wine-related, as that became a focal point of the show), but “Cougar Town” remained known as such through the sixth and final season, which ended on March 31, 2015.

Fun fact: Phoebe’s twin sister, Ursula Buffay, actually predates the character of Phoebe. Ursula first appeared on the sitcom “Mad About You” as a waitress who often served Paul (Paul Reiser) and Jamie (Helen Hunt) at Riff’s. Ursula was further developed on “Friends,” where she appeared in numerous episodes as the more manipulative, mean and self-centered of the twins. For her some two dozen appearances on “Mad About You,” Kudrow earned nominations at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, American Comedy Awards and Online Film and Television Awards.

The 1997 comedy “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion” had a modest showing at the box office, but it actually received praise from critics and developed a cult following over the years since, eventually spawning a 2005 prequel and a live musical in Seattle in 2017. In the film, Kudrow plays the titular character of Michele Weinberger, who was bullied in high school along with her friend, Romy (Mira Sorvino). The two attend their prom hoping to show up their former tormentors, but of course, things don’t go as planned.  

For our second Kudrow movie, we were tempted to go with the 1999 comedy “Analyze This” for its notoriety, but instead we’re opting for “Kabluey,” a film you’ve probably never heard of. But not only is Kudrow the star of the 2007 Scott Prendergast-directed comedy, but it’s actually a higher-rated film than “Analyze This.” Kudrow even garnered a Best Actress Satellite Award nomination for portraying Leslie Miniver, a woman who struggles with keeping her family and life together while her husband is serving in Iraq.

The HBO dramedy “The Comeback” aired for a single season in 2005 before getting the ax, but, true to its name, the show made a miraculous comeback nine years later — although this second run also lasted just one season. Still, “The Comeback” amassed three Emmy nominations (including a Best Actress nod for star and co-creator Kudrow) in its first season, and critics routinely praised season 2, especially what would be the final episode.

Co-created, co-produced and starring Kudrow, the Showtime comedy “Web Therapy” aired for four seasons between 2011 and 2015. Not only does the name “Web Therapy” refer to the fact that Kudrow’s Fiona Wallace character conducts therapy sessions via the internet, but the series actually started as a web show. Co-starring Dan Bucatinsky, Victor Garber, Lily Tomlin and Jennifer Elise Cox, “Web Therapy” received mixed reviews at first but slowly earned the respect of critics over the years. Among many other guest stars, Cox, LeBlanc, Perry and Schwimmer all appeared in various episodes.

We consider this first entry one of the best roles of LeBlanc’s career simply because of the notoriety of the production. Early in his career, with just a few credits to his name, LeBlanc appeared in the video for Tom Petty’s 1991 hit “Into the Great Wide Open .” Don’t remember the details? Well, as you may recall, Johnny Depp was the star of the video, with Tom Petty appearing, among other roles, as a tattoo artist giving Depp some ink early in the song. However, in the end of video, Depp walks into the same tattoo parlor and finds an older version of himself as the tattoo artist, and the young man getting a tattoo is now 24-year-old Matt LeBlanc.

“Joey” wasn’t a great show, but the spinoff was a comforting presence in the era following the final episode of “Friends.” How else can you explain 18.6 million viewers tuning into the pilot episode on September 9, 2004 — just four months after “Friends” ended? LeBlanc kept the Joey Tribbiani character going for two seasons and 46 episodes, but with only 4 million viewers watching midway through the season, NBC canceled “Joey” in May 2006.

Following the 2006 cancellation of “Joey,” LeBlanc said he’d take a year off from acting, but it ended up being a full five years before his next role. LeBlanc chose wisely with that project, “Episodes,” a Showtime comedy created and written by Jeffrey Klarik and “Friends” co-creator David Crane. In the show, LeBlanc plays a satirical version of himself, an actor who is cast to appear in the American adaptation of a British TV show created by Sean and Beverly Lincoln (Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig). “Episodes” aired 41 episodes over five seasons and earned 10 Emmy nominations and four Golden Globe nods, including a Best Actor win at the latter for LeBlanc.

After appearing on the 18th season of the rebooted version of “Top Gear” (not to mention setting a driving record) in 2012, LeBlanc was asked to become one of the car show’s co-hosts four years later. Fans (and LeBlanc himself) enjoyed his three-year stint, but the travel and time commitments to the British show were too great, and the actor left in 2018.

LeBlanc’s return to network TV, the CBS sitcom “Man with a Plan,” was not well-received by critics, but the actor won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Actor in a New Television Series after the show’s first season, and the show won at the same event for Favorite New TV Comedy. Three years after the premiere, LeBlanc is still playing the show’s protagonist and patriarch, Adam Burns, a contractor and married father of three. In May 2019, “Man with a Plan” was renewed for a fourth season.

While “Friends” was on the air, Perry appeared in a handful of movies, but the only people he played on TV other than himself or Chandler Bing were a pair of appearances as Todd on “Ally McBeal” and a three-episode arc as Joe Quincy on “The West Wing.” The former role was forgettable, but the latter turn as the Associate White House Counsel earned Perry Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series nominations at back-to-back Golden Globe Award shows. Quincy is best remembered as the guy who discovered that Vice President John Hoynes (Tim Matheson) leaked classified information to a civilian, which eventually led to Hoynes’ resignation.

Ron Clark is a real-life educator who grew up in North Carolina but moved to Harlem to teach and inspire inner-city youth, and eventually founded the Ron Clark Academy. “The Ron Clark Story,” a 2006 TV movie that aired on TNT, illustrates this portion of Clark’s life with Perry starring in the titular role alongside Ernie Hudson, Melissa De Sousa, Patricia Idlette and Brandon Mychal Smith. “The Ron Clark Story” never aired in theaters and thus wasn’t reviewed by many critics, but Perry clearly gave a powerful performance, as the actor earned nominations at the Golden Globes, Primetime Emmys, SAG Awards and numerous other events.

Following Perry’s stint on “The West Wing,” created by Aaron Sorkin, the actor was cast in Sorkin’s next project “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” Unfortunately, the dramedy would be Sorkin’s only show to last just a single season, so Perry’s starring role as sketch comedy writer Matt Albie was short-lived. Despite positive reviews for “Studio 60,” Perry (who garnered a Best Actor nod at the Satellite Awards) and his all-star co-stars Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet, Sarah Paulson, Nate Corddry, D.L. Hughley, Steven Weber and Timothy Busfield, the series was canceled after 22 episodes due to steadily declining ratings.

In 2012, Perry joined the ranks of many other famous faces when he guest-starred on “The Good Wife.” For a handful of episodes during seasons three and four, Perry played Mike Kresteva, an attorney and Republican candidate for governor. The actor earned a decent amount of praise for the role and even nabbed a Best Drama Guest Actor at the Gold Derby TV Awards. After “The Good Wife” ended following its seventh season, Perry was asked to reprise his character in 2017 for the spinoff series “The Good Fight.” 

When it comes to contemporary sitcoms helmed by Perry, there are two choices: “Go On,” which aired for a single season on NBC, and “The Odd Couple,” which aired for three on CBS between 2015 and 2017. Although “The Odd Couple” lasted longer and was also both developed and executive produced by Perry (who starred as Oscar Madison alongside Thomas Lennon’s Felix Unger), critics were divided or lukewarm on the reboot. Instead, “Go On” was the show generally praised, as was Perry for his comedic and oftentimes moving performance as Ryan King, a talk radio host who joins a support group after struggling to deal with the death of his wife. But when it comes to the survival of TV shows, it’s the ratings who are king, and “Go On” simply didn’t have the following to do as its name suggests.

In addition to the likes of Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Scott Grimes, Donnie Wahlberg and Colin Hanks, Schwimmer was also among the primary cast of Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed HBO war miniseries “Band of Brothers.” Portraying the petty and vindictive U.S. Army Captain Herbert Sobel — who was based on a real WWII vet of the same name — Schwimmer was the focus of the very first episode and won a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.

In the fourth season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Schwimmer had a three-episode arc where he played himself and, in story, was cast to star alongside Larry David in Mel Brooks’ “The Producers.” Of course, Larry ends up in a spat with Schwimmer, and the rivalry comes to a head in the season finale. Playing yourself (or anyone, really) in a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode is always a good idea, and Schwimmer’s short stint was no exception.

We’re choosing to group together all three of Schwimmer’s turns voicing Melman the giraffe in “Madagascar” (2005), “Madagascar: Escape to Africa” (2008) and “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” (2012) because not only did the franchise improve with each new installment (according to critics and fans alike), but also because it’s silly to spend time comparing these kids films. They were all fun family comedies, and Schwimmer had a well-executed starring role in all three alongside co-stars Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer and Andy Richter, among many others.

Schwimmer said he had always wanted to star on Broadway, and after first appearing in a production of Neil LaBute’s “Some Girl(s)” in London in 2005, the actor made his Broadway debut a year later in Herman Wouk’s courtroom drama “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.” Reviews for both the star and the play itself were mixed, but it was nevertheless a significant milestone in Schwimmer’s long career.

The star-studded FX real-crime drama “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story” was highly praised, as evidenced by its 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and nine wins, including Outstanding Limited Series. Critical assessments of Schwimmer’s portrayal of lawyer Robert Kardashian were mixed, but for once, we’re going to actually value the opinion of Kim Kardashian. The reality TV star and daughter of the attorney (who died at age 59 in 2003) said of Schwimmer’s performance: “There were times I was watching it and I was like, ‘Oh s—t, this is dead-on.’ Like, ‘That looks like my dad. It feels like my dad.’ It was eerie to watch sometimes.”