Pop Culture

Which "Friends" Alum Has The Best Career?

Ever since Friends ended, the cast members have been trying to move on. We rank 'em in order of who's had the most success since the series finale.

Photo Removed
Complex Original

Blank pixel used during image takedowns

Friends

Jennifer AnistonCourtney CoxLisa KudrowMatt LeBlancDavid SchwimmerMatthew PerryCougar TownEpisodeshot women playing opposite Adam SandlerJust Go With ItMr. Sunshinerank their post-Friends careers from least to most successful.

David Schwimmer

6. David Schwimmer (Ross Geller)

Biggest W since Friends: Schwimmer had a major voice role in both of the Madagascar films.

Biggest L since Friends: He's played in a couple of minor roles in films, with none of the roles or movies being memorable at all. Nothing But the Truth, anyone?

Noticeable relationships: He married Zoe Buckman last year.

Public scandals: Other than his tendency to flock towards shitty scripts, nothing too bad.

Complex says: Schwimmer seems to have cut out of acting and is focusing now on directing. He directed the Simon Pegg comedy Run Fatboy Run, which didn’t set the world on fire, but was decent. Next up for Schwimmer is Trust, a movie about an online predator stalking a young girl, which is supposed to premier sometime this year. Nothing like pedophilia to draw those big crowds!

Advertisement

Matt LeBlanc

5. Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani)

Biggest W since Friends: Matt LeBlanc is currently playing Matt LeBlanc, the asshole former star of Friends, in the surprisingly good Showtime comedy Episodes.

Biggest L since Friends: His spinoff sitcom, Joey, was a major fail that only lasted two years and forever ended the Friends legacy on a shitty note.

Noticeable relationships: He has been dating Andrea Anders, an actress he met on the set of Joey.

Public scandals: LeBlanc was married to Melissa Withstood for three years before he just got up and left. He reportedly left her to start dating Anders. Around this time he also publicly denounced a rumor that was started by his ex-chauffeur, who said the actor used to entertain “gay hustlers” in his limousine. Oh, that Joey was always getting into so much mischief!

Complex says: LeBlanc was being banked on to be the Frasier of Friends with his spin-off, Joey. The problem, though, was that the show fucking sucked. And it wasn’t just him. The whole thing, from the writing to the set-up (an overeating, oversexed actor trying to transition from NY to LA) to the obvious humor was a turd. Still, with Episodes breathing new life into his career, he's beginning to recover.

Lisa Kudrow

4. Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay)

Biggest W since Friends: She was nominated for an Emmy for The Comeback, her short-lived HBO comedy about an actress trying to revive her career. She is also producing, writing, and starring in Web Therapy, which is on Showtime, and she is the executive producer of NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?

Biggest L since Friends: Even though The Comeback would be praised by most critics it would only last one season.

Noticeable relationships: She’s been married forever to some French advertising dude named Michel Stern.

Public scandals: A couple of years ago, Kudrow’s manager, Scott Howard, sued her over unpaid commission.

Complex says: It seems like Kudrow is settling into a nice non-mainstream niche with her online work. When she does work with network TV it’s in the producing arena, which is where the money is at, so we're not even mad. And to think, we’ve always thought blondes where dumb.

Advertisement

Matthew Perry

3. Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing)

Biggest W since Friends: Matthew Perry’s new show Mr. Sunshine is premiering, and we don’t know yet how it will do with ratings, but the reviews have been positive as you can see here, here, and here. He also got nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe some years back for his performance in the TNT original movieThe Ron Clark Show.

Biggest L since Friends: He pitched The End of Steve, a dark comedy pilot he wrote, to Showtime. The network passed.

Noticeable relationships: Perry is still single and hasn’t had anything noticeable poppin' since the end of the show. We're not saying he's gay...but we would for a million page views!

Public scandals: Perry has been clean as a whistle. It’s surprising considering we had him number one on our “most likely to go all Todd Bridges on us” list, especially after multiple stints in rehab earlier in his career.

Complex says: It seems like after the show ended he tried a little of everything and was successful at nothing (with the exception of the voice work he did on the Fallout: New Vegas video game). His lack of a presence in TV and film has been probably the most shocking out of all the cast considering that during Friends he was actually getting pretty steady movie work (The Whole Nine Yards was a minor hit and Fools Rush In wasn’t terrible). With that being said, whether it be because we haven't seen lot of him, or we recognize his talent, and enjoy his cynical humor, we still think he has the most upside out of all the cast.

Courtney Cox

2. Courtney Cox (Monica Geller)

Biggest W since Friends: Cougar Town, the ABC comedy that she stars in and executive produces, just got renewed for a third year after having a relatively successful first two seasons.

Biggest L since Friends: Cox had a role in the shit sandwich and complete bomb of a movie Zoom.

Noticeable relationships: She is currently separated from David Arquette, who she has been married to for over 11 years.

Public scandals: The whole Arquette and Cox saga has been in the news recently due to David openly talking about his infidelity on Howard Stern's radio show and his stay in rehab for alcohol dependency.

Complex says: After years of being in the background and trying to get her producing company off the ground, Cox has found a minor hit with Cougar Town. It helps a lot that she is in her 40s, yet she looks hot as fuck in that MILF-Demi-Moore kind of way. And even though the situation with Arquette probably sucks for both of them, shit, you can't buy the kind of press a break-up will give you.

Advertisement

Jennifer Aniston

1. Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green)

Biggest W since Friends: Aniston has co-starred in some pretty big films like Bruce Almighty, The Break-Up, and Marley and Me. We didn't particularly like them, but all three movies made over a $100 million at the box office.

Biggest L since Friends: She was just nominated for a Razzie for her role in the awful The Bounty Hunter.

Noticeable relationships: Since divorcing Brad Pitt, Aniston has had flings with John Mayer, Gerard Butler, and Vince Vaughn.

Public scandals: Brad Pitt notoriously had an affair with Angelina Jolie while he was still married to Aniston, his wife of four years. The betrayal, which still makes tabloid headlines to this day, made most people feel for Aniston. Pitt of course married Jolie, who went from hot sexpot to weird matriarch recreating Captain Planet and the Planeteers using adopted children, so Aniston looks even better now.

Complex says: The big knock on Aniston remains that she can’t carry a movie by herself; she needs the help of a major star for a blockbuster hit. Still, she regularly gets up to $8 million a picture, and, whether it's because of her acting ability or some public romance, her name is always out there. Who needs Friends anyway?

Stay ahead on Exclusives

Download the Complex App