The one where they all did their own thing: What have the cast of 'Friends' done since the show ended?


Emma Day
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Their 10-year run ended on May 6, 2004, when the cast of Friends put down their coffee cups and left Central Perk for good.

However, the small screen's six most famous pals are set to return for a one-off special, set to air on Thursday, May 27.

The original cast of the Emmy-winning US sitcom will take part in a reunion special for WarnerMedia’s new streaming service HBO Max, nearly 16 years after the show ended after 236 episodes.

The New York-set show made household names out of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, who were mostly unknown when the pilot first aired in September 1994.

The special is being called a “celebration of the beloved show” and will be shot on the same Burbank, California, soundstage where the original episodes were filmed.

But what have the sextuplet been up to since the show drew to a close? Below, we take a look at where Ross, Rachel and co are now.

Jennifer Aniston

Rachel Green became, arguably, the biggest Hollywood star out of the six during her time on Friends, thanks to her work in films such as Bruce Almighty, critically acclaimed The Good Girl and Along Came Polly, as well as her much-publicised marriage to, and subsequent divorce from, Brad Pitt.

Since 2004, Aniston has appeared in a number of blockbusters, including The Break-Up (2006) in which she starred against Vince Vaughn, the heart-rending Marley & Me (2008), and 2009 ensemble rom-com He's Just Not That into You. The last decade also saw Aniston feature in Horrible Bosses (2011), and We're the Millers (2013) both of which took in hundreds of millions at box office. In terms of her most-praised performance, the accolade would have to go to Cake (2014), in which Aniston played a woman struggling with chronic pain, and earned Golden Globe and SAG nominations for her role.

The 51-year-old returned to the small screen in 2007 with an Emmy-nominated cameo on Tina Fey's NBC comedy 30 Rock, and guest-starred in an episode of Dirt that same year. Last year, Aniston teamed up with Reese Witherspoon to star in and co-produce Apple TV+ drama The Morning Show, her first lead TV role since Friends ended.

Behind the camera, Aniston co-founded a production company, Echo Films, in 2008, which has produced films including Netflix's 2019 drama Dumplin', in which she played a former beauty queen. she also released her own perfume in 2010, co-founded haircare line Living Proof in 2007, and has fronted campaigns for the likes of SmartWater, L'Oreal and Aveeno.

Off-screen, Aniston wed actor Justin Theroux in 2015, though the two announced their split in 2017.

Lisa Kudrow

She may have played kooky Phoebe Buffay for 10 years, but Kudrow acted in some of her best-known work while she was still starring in Friends (think cult comedy Romy and Michele's High School Reunion and The Opposite of Sex).

Following the end of Friends, Kudrow, now 56, co-created, wrote and executive produced HBO series The Comeback (2005). She also starred in the drama, which followed a washed-up sitcom star desperate to forge a reprisal.

Kudrow has predominately stuck to cameos and supporting roles on screen in the past 16 years, though has been prolific behind the camera, racking up a number of producing credits. The actress is a producer of Showtime comedy Web Therapy (2011-2015), in which she also starred, and producer of TLC reality show Who Do You Think You Are, which charts celebrities' ancestry.

On screen, her most famous post-Friends performances include turns in Easy A (2010), Neighbors (2014), The Girl on the Train (2016) and 2019's Booksmart.

Off-screen, Kudrow is married to advertising executive Michel Stern. The couple welcomed their son in 1998; Kudrow's pregnancy was written into a Friends storyline.

Courteney Cox

Before she played Monica Geller, Cox had a few notable credits to her name, making her perhaps the most famous of the early friends: a turn in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and a starring role in Bruce Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark video.

She also starred in horror favourites Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 3 (2000) while starring on the sitcom.

Post-Friends, however, Cox has dialled things back a notch, with a handful of TV and films roles in the following years. Pregnancy meant the star declined the lead role of Susan in comedy-drama Desperate Housewives, though Cox later took a small-screen lead role and producer credit in FX drama Dirt (2007), where she played a tabloid newspaper editor. The show was cancelled a year later. Cox, 55, has also starred in a few indie movies, such as November (2005), and cameoed on a number of TV shows, including Scrubs.

Her most famous role since 2004 was in ABC comedy series Cougar Town (2009-2015), where she played a newly single mother looking for romance.

Off-screen, Cox divorced actor David Arquette, with whom she shares daughter Coco and production company Coquette Productions, in 2013. She is currently in a relationship with Snow Patrol band member Johnny McDaid.

David Schwimmer

Ross Gellar famously told ex Rachel Green they were "on a break", but Schwimmer didn't take much of one after Friends wrapped.

The actor took on a few parts while filming the sitcom, most notably in Second World War miniseries Band of Brothers (2001), but really diversified after the show ended.

Schwimmer, who directed 10 episodes of Friends during its run, further flexed his directorial muscle by helming 2007 British comedy Run Fatboy Run, starring Simon Pegg as a man who signs up for a marathon to woo his former fiancee. Schwimmer also directed several episodes of the US remake of sketch show Little Britain, directed off-Broadway play Fault Lines in 2008, and made his second feature,Trust, in 2010.

The 53-year-old also appeared in front of the camera in 2005 indie Duane Hopwood, where he played an alcoholic, voiced Melman the giraffe in animated favourite Madagascar, and played small roles in 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage. Schwimmer, unlike most of his Friends co-stars, has also dabbled with acting on stage, appearing in Some Girl(s) in London with Catherine Tate and Lesley Manville in 2005, and on Broadway in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial in 2006.

Though he has appeared on screen routinely since 2004, Schwimmer's most famous role since Friends is arguably portraying Robert Kardashian in critically acclaimed FX series American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson. The actor, who is due to star in upcoming British sitcom Intelligence this year, scored an Emmy nod for his role as the real-life lawyer.

Off screen, Schwimmer has a daughter, Cleo, with ex-wife Zoe Buckman.

Matthew Perry

The actor behind caustic-tongued Chandler Bing isn't just known for his comic chops, as he proved with an Emmy-nominated turn as White House counsel Joe Quincy in The West Wing, which he first starred in shortly before Friends wrapped. Perry, now 50, also popped up in Hollywood films including Fools Rush In (1997) and The Whole Nine Yards (2000), as well as Ally McBeal, while simultaneously portraying Bing.

Post-Friends, however, Perry has had a lower profile than most of his co-stars, starring in smaller series and films and taking long breaks from the spotlight.

He has tried his hand at directing – an episode of hospital comedy Scrubs – and dabbled with stage acting, performing opposite Minnie Driver in 2003's Sexual Perversity in Chicago and in 2016's The End of Longing, Perry's stage-writing debut.

The actor has several other writing credits to his name, notably 2011 sitcom Mr Sunshine, which he originated, and CBS sitcom The Odd Couple, which he also starred in and produced. When it comes to big-screen successes, the most famous is Perry's turn as a father who reinhabits his teenage body in 2009's 17 Again. He's also appeared in legal TV dramas The Good Wife and The Good Fight.

Perry has openly spoken about his addiction battles off screen, and has since helped advocate for recovery programmes. He was awarded a Champion of Recovery award from the Office of National Drug Control Policy in 2013, for opening a sober living house in his former California mansion.

Matt LeBlanc

He was so loveable as Joey Tribbiani that LeBlanc, 52, was the only friend to score his own spin-off series (or agree to one, depending on how you read the situation).

The actor fronted TV show Joey from Friends' end until 2006, charting the jobbing Tribbiani's life in Hollywood after he left New York to find fame.

Following the spin-off's cancellation, LeBlanc took a five-year hiatus from acting, before returning in Episodes in 2011. The TV series, which ran until 2017, saw LeBlanc play a satirical version of himself; part of a husband-and-wife writing team who travel to Hollywood to remake their British TV series. The actor won a Golden Globe for his performance. He has since fronted CBS sitcom Man with a Plan since 2016.

LeBlanc has also branched into presenting, acting as one of the new hosts of motoring TV show Top Gear between 2016 and 2018.

Off screen, LeBlanc has a daughter with his former wife, Melissa McKnight.

Herc's Adventures

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The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8

Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm

Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km

Price: Dh380,000

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

The specs: 2018 Audi RS5

Price, base: Dh359,200

Engine: 2.9L twin-turbo V6

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 450hp at 5,700rpm

Torque: 600Nm at 1,900rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km

De De Pyaar De

Produced: Luv Films, YRF Films
Directed: Akiv Ali
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jaaved Jaffrey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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Tonight's Chat on The National

Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.

Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.

Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.

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How tumultuous protests grew
  • A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
  • Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved 
  • Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
  • At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
  • Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars 
  • Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
  • An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital 
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War and the virus
Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
  • Ban fruit juice and sodas
  • Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
  • Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
  • Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
  • Don’t eat dessert every day 
  • Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
  • Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
  • Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
  • Eat everything in moderation

 

 

Two-step truce

The UN-brokered ceasefire deal for Hodeidah will be implemented in two stages, with the first to be completed before the New Year begins, according to the Arab Coalition supporting the Yemeni government.

By midnight on December 31, the Houthi rebels will have to withdraw from the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Issa and Al Saqef, coalition officials told The National. 

The second stage will be the complete withdrawal of all pro-government forces and rebels from Hodeidah city, to be completed by midnight on January 7.

The process is to be overseen by a Redeployment Co-ordination Committee (RCC) comprising UN monitors and representatives of the government and the rebels.

The agreement also calls the deployment of UN-supervised neutral forces in the city and the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure distribution of aid across the country.

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
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Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India

Itcan profile

Founders: Mansour Althani and Abdullah Althani

Based: Business Bay, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India

Sector: Technology, digital marketing and e-commerce

Size: 70 employees 

Revenue: On track to make Dh100 million in revenue this year since its 2015 launch

Funding: Self-funded to date

 

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

MATCH INFO

Chelsea 0

Liverpool 2 (Mane 50', 54')

Red card: Andreas Christensen (Chelsea)

Man of the match: Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

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The Details

Kabir Singh

Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series

Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa

Rating: 2.5/5