Co-created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, Friends is an American sitcom that chronicles the lives of six friends living and working in Manhattan in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the characters and people who portrayed them still loom large today.

Jennifer Aniston, the daughter of late actors Nancy Dow and John Aniston, starred as Rachel Green, a young woman who began living with her friend group after being cut off by her wealthy family for leaving her rich fiance.Having started acting as a child, and landing minor roles in films and failed television comedies, Friends is considered to be Aniston’s breakout role.

Through Friends, Aniston won a SAG Award for Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 1996, a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2002 and a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series (Musical Or Comedy) in 2003. Aniston was nominated for nine SAG awards, five Emmy’s and three Golden Globes for her role as Rachel Green in Friends. By the end of the show, Aniston and her castmates were earning $1 million per episode, setting a Guinness World Record for highest paid TV actresses per episode in 2014 with female co-stars Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow. In 2018, Forbes ranked Aniston as the third-highest paid actress, with $19.5 million in pre-tax earnings, in part because of royalties from Friends reruns.

Aniston also built a major film career, starring in comedies such as Bruce Almighty, We’re The Millers and The Break-Up. She stars in Apple TV’s The Morning Show, where she received her second SAG award, and her most recent film appearance is in Netflix’s Murder Mystery 2.

Cox played chef Monica Geller, Rachel’s roommate. Cox was the only established star before the show started, starring in NBC’s Misfits of Science and appearing in ABC’s The Love Bloat, Murder, She Wrote, Family Ties and an episode of Friends’ network mate, Seinfeld. At 20, she was cast in the video for Bruce Springsteen’s for Dancing in the Dark, as a fan pulled onto the stage to dance with Springsteen.

In addition to her role as Monica, Cox is known for starring in Scream as Gale Weathers, a role she has reprised for six consecutive films–the latest this past March–the most of any actress in a horror movie franchise. Cox is the only one of her castmates who never received an Emmy nomination for her work on Friends.

Cox received several nominations for her work in Scream and a Golden Globe nomination for her starring role as Jules Cobb in ABC’s 2009 comedy series, Cougar Town. Last year, Cox starred in the streaming platform, Starz’, comedy horror series Shining Vale.

Forbes ranked Cox the eighth-highest paid TV actress in 2014, earning $6 million.

Kudrow portrays musician, masseuse and Monica’s old roommate, Phoebe Buffay. A native of Los Angeles, Kudrow started her career in improv comedy with troupes like Unexpected Company and Transformers Comedy Troupe.

Portraying Phoebe earned Kudrow two SAG awards in 1996 and 2000, an Emmy award and a Golden Globe nomination. Kudrow was the first cast member of Friends to win an Emmy.

Kudrow appeared in The Comeback, for which she received two Emmy nominations for her leading role in the comedy series, and Web Therapy, alongside Friends co-stars Cox and LeBlanc. Popular and acclaimed films Kudrow has appeared in include The Opposite of Sex, Dr. Dolittle 2, P.S. I Love You, Easy A and The Boss Baby.

Her latest appearances include the musical film Better Nate Than Ever on Disney+.

Matt LeBlanc plays Joey Tribbiani, a television actor and Chandler’s roommate.

LeBlanc started his career in commercials and music videos before landing a recurring role on Married … With Children. Friends is considered LeBlanc’s official breakout role, where he landed Emmy nominations for in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and Golden Globe nominations in 2003 and 2004.

Once Friends ended, LeBlanc was the star of its spinoff, Joey, which followed his character’s pursuit of an acting career in Hollywood, until its final episode in 2006.

LeBlanc portrayed himself in Showtime and Friends creator David Crane’s 2011-2017 series, Episodes, where he won a Golden Globe. A year after the series began, LeBlanc ranked in the top 20 of Forbes’ Most Influential Social Media Personalities of 2012.

LeBlanc starred in CBS’ Man with a Plan from 2016-2020.

Comedian, producer and actor Matthew Perry played Chandler Bing. Having pursued acting at 15 years old, Perry played in films and short-lived television shows before landing his most renowned role on Friends.

For his role as Chandler, Perry earned an Emmy in 2002. Perry’s leading role as Ron Clark The Ron Clark Story earned him a Gold Derby Award for Television Movie and Miniseries Lead Actor, a SAG award nomination for Male TV Movie or Miniseries and Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor.

In 2010, Perry voiced the character Benny in the video game Fall Out: New Vegas. Perry’s most recent television appearances were in 2017 as a recurring character on CBS’ The Good Fight and as Ted Kennedy in the miniseries The Kennedys: After Camelot.

In October 2022, Perry released his first book, Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing, a memoir where he opens up about his struggles with a Vicodin addiction.

Stage and film actor and director David Schwimmer played Ross Geller, Monica’s older brother, Chandler’s former college roommate and, eventually, Rachel’s boyfriend. Before Friends, he and a group of friends started a nonprofit theater company called Lookingglass Theatre Company, and he starred in ABC’s A Deadly Silence and in shows like The Wonder Years.

Playing Ross earned Schwimmer an Emmy nomination in 1995, making him one of the first cast members to be nominated. He received his second Emmy nomination portraying the Kardashian patriarch, Robert Kardashian, in American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson in 2016.

Outside of Friends, Schwimmer has acted in films and television series, such as The Pallbearer, Band of Brothers, the Madagascar franchise and Apt Pupil. Most recently, Schwimmer starred in the sitcom Intelligence for its two seasons from 2020-2021.