We open “Friends” when there is nothing to see, when a man leaves or old acquaintances suddenly appear – for 10 seasons and 10 years on the screen these six managed to marry the audience so much that we still share the best and most important moments in life with them. Once upon a time, “Friends” was in the right place at the right time and became part of an entire generation – millions of people (for example, the last episode of the premiere was watched by 52.5 million people) responded. The heroes’ everyday problems, emotions, successes and failures are easily compared to their own lives. And that devoted fan love for the stars of Friends has been fully monetized – in past seasons Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc have received a million dollars per episode, nearly $20 million in total. per season. It would seem that each of them would never be able to work again, but at the end of the cult sitcom the careers of the majority nevertheless did not go uphill – secondary roles, the absence of high-profile projects, and sometimes health problems would come later. It can be called the curse of “friends”. For example, the former stars of the show (Jennifer Aniston was an exception on this list) suffer a creative disaster and remain actors of the same role, unable to get out of the “friendly” role for years. But this myth really has a basis – what? At least the filmography of the legendary six and their achievements in the acting field.
Jennifer aniston
Of the six “Friends”, Jennifer Aniston was luckier than the others. The only Golden Globe won by the series even went to the actress – in 2003 she went on to star in feature films for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and at the end of the show, she had a career boost in principle. In the year the Friends finale aired, for example, she was recognized by People magazine as the most beautiful woman in the world, after which Jen received the title of GQ Woman of the Year, and a year later, according to her, she was the most stylish. to people. In parallel with this, films were regularly released on the screens, in which the star got important, if not the main, secondary roles: “Bruce the Great”, “Marley and I”, “Promising does not get married”, “Role play be my wife”, “We are Miller and others and for several years He first returned to television, starring in the drama The Morning Show with Reese Witherspoon. And if the “Friends” curse exists, then she certainly hasn’t touched it – 18 years after the end of the series, Jennifer Aniston still doesn’t seem to have disappeared from the radar for long, and she hasn’t let her fans forget about herself.
lisa kudrow
The main achievements of the actress fell on the period of “Friends”, but after the series she did not have high-profile roles and projects. Although it may seem like every chance: A year after breaking up with Phoebe Buffay’s heroine, Lisa Kurdow played the main role in the TV series “Return,” about actors trying to revive their careers, which she also produced. The project was warmly received by critics, but due to low ratings, it was closed after the first season, so the actress went to the movies and played small roles in the films PS I Love You, Hotel for Dogs and Easy Virtue. Meanwhile, he’s still making movies, but sadly on the sidelines.
Courteney Cox
In the early 2000s, Courteney Cox was not only Monica from Friends, but also Gail from the cult slasher Scream, in which the actress played the main role. And right after the end of Friends, she might be Susan from Desperate Housewives, but turned down the role due to pregnancy – then who knows what her career would have been like if she had accepted. Unfortunately, apart from Scream’s sequels (including the fifth installment of the franchise, which aired this year), Courteney Cox’s filmography had almost no hits, with the exception of the Cougar City series, for which the actress was nominated for a Golden Globe. “.
David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer was a little luckier than his colleagues, but these were clearly not Ross Geller’s roles. For example, the actor voiced the Melman giraffe in the animated series Madagascar and also played the role of Robert Kardashian in the first season of the American Crime Story anthology, for which he received an Emmy nomination. Now her filmography has more than 55 projects, and in most of them she even plays the main role, but they did not gain worldwide popularity.
Matt LeBlanc
How are you? The protagonist of the sextet, Matt LeBlanc, even got a separate drama called “Joey”, which aired right after the end of “Friends”. Unfortunately, midway through the first season, the show was among the lowest rated shows and NBC management decided to shut it down. The next time the actor returned to television it was only in 2011 – in the role of a fictionalized version of himself in the series Episodes, which by the way was awarded his first Golden Globe in his career. True, this was his last high-profile project, although LeBlanc continued acting until the previous year (for example, he played the main character in the sitcom All Understood, not counting 2021’s Reunion).
Matthew Perry
In the late 90s, Matthew Perry, who is now 53 years old, was filmed almost constantly, and in parallel with Friends, Hurry – makes people laugh, Tango Trio, Scams and others, and his films were shot for the guest. He was nominated for two Emmys in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role in The West Wing. The comedy The Nine Yards (2000) and its sequel (2004) brought him more popularity, but with the closing of Friends, Matthew’s career began to decline. And later it became known that the actor had problems with addiction, as he did not even remember three years of filming in the cult sitcom. In the late 10s and early 20s, the actress appeared less and less in public and on screens, and when the paparazzi managed to catch up with her, all social networks discussed it: due to the surgery she had in 2018, she changed almost beyond recognition.
Let’s be friends?
Source: People Talk
