Sunday, September 28, 2008
Friends .

Im talking bout the hit show of course, lasting 10 seasons and is still voted the best show to ever be on telivision, but has anyone ever wondered.
What happened to the 6 stars after the show?

Well i've recently found this page and heres what i found out.

#6. Matt LeBlanc
On Screen:
You would think that Matt LeBlanc was The One With the Most Potential,
because after all, it is LeBlanc that was gifted a Friends spin-off by NBC;
a should-be success with a built-in fanbase of millions.

Too bad that Joey was pretty much unwatchable, even for the most die-hard of Friends fans (I gave it about 5 episodes before determining it to be a lost cause). Somehow though, Joey survived 2 seasons and 47 episodes.

And since Joey? Check out Matt LeBlanc's IMDb credits. Holy crap! Matt LeBlanc has not even starred in any C-rate TV movies. Joey is LeBlanc's sole post-Friends credit (though he is supposedly working "behind the camera" now).

Off Screen:
LeBlanc got a deivorce from his wife after he cheated on her with his Joey co-star. He is also currently being sued by his former manager, though according to LeBlanc, she's crazy.



#5. Matthew Perry:
On Screen
Perry's main credit since Friends was the short-lived Aaron Sorkin vehicle Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. Studio 60 was supposed to be the next big thing, but it fizzled and died after just a single season. At least Perry received generally positive feedback for his performance.

The problem with Perry is that besides Studio 60 he hasn't done very much; a TV movie here (The Ron Clark Story) and a movie you've never heard of there (Numb, Birds of America). While Perry has received positive reviews for all of these films, I just don't feel that any of them can be considered that big post-Friends breakthrough.
Perry will also be playing an older version of Zac Efron in next year's Seventeen Again. Minus points for that decision.

Perry's best chance for post-Friends success might be "The End of Steve", a new series for Showtime in which he will be starring and producing.

Off Screen

There's very little off-screen news for Perry and in his case, no news is probably good news since he previously suffered from various drug and alcohol addictions during his Friends tenure (and Chandler's weight see-sawed accordingly whether Perry was on or off of the sauce).
Perry may or may not be dating his former girlfriend Lauren Graham, of Gilmore Girls.

#4. Lisa Kudrow:

On Screen

Like Matthew Perry before her, Kudrow also has a short-lived TV show post-Friends, The Comeback, which aired for 13 episodes on HBO (that's 34 fewer than LeBlanc's Joey). Thirteen episodes is not that many, but in Kudrow's defense, The Comeback was actually pretty funny. It was just offbeat and misunderstood. Kudrow did however receive a much deserved Emmy nomination for her work.

Besides The Comeback, Kudrow has appeared in a few movies (check out her credits), including Happy Endings (2005) and Kabluey (2007). Kudrow also appeared in the recent chick-flick P.S. I Love You, and has about 5 other projects in the works.

Why'd she rank above Perry? Both have failed single-season TV shows and 2 indie movies that nobody has seen (with well received performances), but Kudrow gets the edge since she appeared in a movie that some people actually saw in movie theaters (P.S. I Love You), albeit a mediocre one. Kudrow also co-created and produced "The Comeback", which accounts for some bonus points as well.

Off Screen

Like Leblanc, Kudrow is being sued by her former manager. Besides a lawsuit (and who really cares), Kudrow's off-screen life is pretty quiet. She's been married for 13 years, which is like an eternity in Hollywood, so she definitely gets some bonus points there. Kudrow is also the Friend that spilled the beans about 2 years ago that a male friend was preventing the making of a Friends reunion show. She then denied that a reunion was even in the works (and no, there's still no movie...).


#3. David Schwimmer

On Screen:
Like Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry before him, David Schwimmer seems to fancy himself an indie darling now, and has starred in a few of them post-Friends, including Duane Hopwood (2005) and Big Nothing (2006).

Schwimmer has also done some voice work in 2005's Madagascar as well as its upcoming sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Lets also not forget his hilarious guest appearance as Greenzo during last season of 30 Rock.
However, these credits alone would certainly not merit a #3 ranking for Schwimmer. Heck, he doesn't even have a failed TV show like Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry or Lisa Kudrow. The reason why Schwimmer is #3 is this:

Off Screen

Two words: Stage work (the best resume padding an actor could ask for).
Not only has Schwimmer starred in a West End play and a Broadway show, but he is also the cofounder of Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company, for which he has acted in and directed many productions. Now, who knows how good Schwimmer was in any of these productions, but all of this stage work just sounds so...legit!

Off screen, Schwimmer has also moved into directing - first "Run Fat Boy Run" in 2007 and now "Little Britain USA" for HBO.
Finally, it seems as though Schwimmer himself has asserted that he has moved past Friends, as he has stated that he would not play the character of "Ross" again. Some of you might hate him for this, but I praise him for attempting to move on with his career.

#2. Courteney Cox (Arquette)

On Screen:

3 out of our 6 Friends have a failed TV show that aired after the conclusion of Friends. Courteney Cox, however, can have the distinction of calling her post-Friends show short-lived (which is one step above failed). This is because Cox's TV show - Dirt - survived to see a second season. Sadly though, that second season only saw 7 episodes before it too was canceled. Call it a curse, I guess. The show did have some of the more inventive promo posters that I had ever seen though...

Beyond Dirt, Cox Arquette has done some voicework (Barnyard), indies (November and The Tripper, the latter written/directed by her husband, David Arquette), made a cameo in The Longest Yard and starred in something we'd all probably like to forget was ever made, Zoom (garnering a whopping 2% rating on Rotten Tomatoes).

She also has a slated 3-episode guest stint on next season of Scrubs. Did you know that Cox Arquette was Marc Cherry's original choice for the role of Susan Meyer on Desperate Housewives, but had to turn it down because she was pregnant?

Off-Screen

Cox Arquette has also dived into the producing angle of TV/movies, frequently collaborating with her husband, David Arquette. The two have been married since 1999 (one of the only 2 successful Friends marriages).
Cox remains friends with "Friend" Jennifer Aniston and even does things like raise money for charity with her.

She also gave birth to a daughter almost right around the time that Friends ended, and in perhaps her worst post-Friends decision to date, named her Coco.


#1
Jenifer Aniston.

On Screen.

Anistons success actually began during the shooting of friends, when she gained considerable critical acclaim for her performances in The Object of My Affection (1998), a comedy drama about a girl who falls for a gay man,

and in the low-budget 2002 film, The Good Girl, directed by Miguel Arteta, playing an unglamorous cashier in a small town. The latter film opened in relatively few theaters - under 700 in total - taking $14M in the U.S. box office.

In late 2005, Aniston headlined two major studio films, Derailed and Rumor Has It, both of which performed fairly at the box office, grossing over $36 million each despite little support from critics.

In 2006, Aniston appeared in the low-budget drama, Friends with Money, which was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival, received a limited release, and grossed over $13 million.

Aniston's next film, The Break-Up, which was released on June 2, grossed approximately $39.17 million during its opening weekend, despite lukewarm reviews. It has currently grossed over $118 million at the U.S. box office and over $203 million worldwide.
I
n 2007, Aniston guest starred in an episode of Courteney Cox Arquette's series Dirt. Aniston played Arquette's snobby rival Tina Harrod.

Forbes listed Aniston as the 10th richest woman in the entertainment industry for the year 2007. She is behind such powerhouses as Oprah Winfrey, J. K. Rowling, Madonna, Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez and is ahead of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the Olsen twins.

Aniston's net worth is approximately $110 million. Aniston was also included in the annual Star Salary Top 10 of trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter for 2006. According to Forbes in October 2007, Aniston was the top-selling celebrity face of the entertainment industry.

Off Screen:
Aniston has also directed a hospital emergency room-set short film named Room 10, starring Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson; Aniston has noted that she was inspired to direct by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who directed a short film in 2006.

Well there you go, the afterlife of Friends.

~AZH out~
Signing off @ 4:50 PM