“Friends” at 25 (Part V): The One With the Great Performances

In my fifth and final article in my series about the legacy of the blockbuster sitcom Friends, I take a close look at the great performances delivered on the series. First, I countdown my 25 favorite performances by guest stars and then I take a deep dive into the greatest performances of the 6 main cast members.

Author’s Note: This is the fifth and final part of a series on the legacy of Friends as it reaches its silver anniversary. Click here for Part I, where I analyze the show’s pop culture legacy. Click here for Part II, in which I delve into what the show meant to me personally. Click here for Part III, where I take a deep dive into the classic Thanksgiving episodes. Click here for Part IV, where I rank the 25 best episodes of the show. For my recap of the reunion special that aired in 2021, click here.

When I look back at what I loved about Friends, I think of many things — the moments of swooning romance, the farcical setups, the witty dialogue, the jaw-dropping cliffhangers, the iconic style, and the overall sense of warmth and comfort that it imbued in me. But most of all, I think about the cast and the many truly wonderful performances they gave on the show. The on-screen chemistry and off-screen camaraderie of the main sextet is the stuff of television legend. It’s no surprise that over the course of the ten-year run of the show, it garnered 27 Emmy nominations for acting and 4 wins (as well as 14 Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations and 4 wins).

As the Emmys pointed out on a near-annual basis, it wasn’t just the main sextet that made the show work. It was also the phenomenal work of hundreds of actors who turned in memorable guest appearances. The show had countless memorable recurring characters and guest stars that are well-known to and beloved by fans. Many were played by gifted character actors, while others were played by A-list superstars who wanted to take part in the phenomenon. One astonishing factoid about the show is that it featured guest appearances by ten Oscar-winning actors — George Clooney, Helen Hunt, Julia Roberts, Robin Williams, Charlton Heston, Reese Witherspoon, Susan Sarandon, Gary Oldman, Sean Penn, and Brad Pitt. And then there’s well-known stars like Bruce Willis, Tom Selleck, Kathleen Turner, Winona Ryder, Billy Crystal, Christina Applegate, Alec Baldwin, Paul Rudd, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Danny DeVito, Morgan Fairchild, Jay Leno, Leah Remini, Charlie Sheen, Marlo Thomas, Jon Favreau, Isabella Rossellini, Teri Garr, Hugh Laurie, Elle MacPherson, Kristin Davis, Jason Alexander, Jeff Goldblum, Greg Kinnear, Jane Lynch, and Fred Willard. When rewatching the show, it is truly astonishing how many famous faces show up, regardless of whether they were already legends at the time they appeared or on their way to becoming stars.

For my final article about the legacy of Friends on the 25th anniversary of its first season, I have compiled a personal list of what I think were the 25 best performances by guest stars. I then go on to analyze and rank the performances of the six friends and highlight what I consider to be their best episodes. It’s important to note that I am not making judgments about how talented these individuals are as actors overall nor am I picking out my favorite episodes or moments; rather, in both the rankings of the guest stars and the main cast I am considering the overall quality of their acting during their appearances on the show, which (of course) is hugely influenced by the material that they are given by the writers and the impact of the directors who helmed the respective episodes (among other factors).

Ranking the 25 Best Performances by Guest Stars

25.) Anna Faris as Erica. Appearance Total: 4 appearances in Season 10. As she would go on to prove in the long-running CBS sitcom Mom, Faris is a truly gifted comic actress. Although her role as the remarkably unsophisticated young woman who chooses Monica and Chandler to adopt her baby is far from the best-written Friends guest role, she imbues every line with a charm and naïveté that few actresses could have pulled off as effectively.

24.) Danny DeVito as Officer Goodbody. Appearance Total: 1 episode in Season 10. The diminutive comedy legend appeared as an over-the-hill stripper in one of the most memorable episodes of the show’s later years and sold a ludicrous premise with his trademark brand of comedy.

23.) Morgan Fairchild as Nora Bing. Appearance Total: 5 appearances across 4 seasons (she appeared in seasons 1, 5, 7, and 8). As Chandler’s sex-obsessed, romance novelist mother, Fairchild’s authoritative presence and savage line delivery was a jolt of energy to the show every time she appeared.

22.) Teri Garr as Phoebe, Sr. Appearance Total: 3 appearances across seasons 3 and 4. In one of the most brilliant bits of guest casting on the show, an iconic flighty blonde from the prior generation was cast as iconic flighty blonde Phoebe’s birth mother. And it worked perfectly.

21.) Marlo Thomas as Sandra Green. Appearance Total: 3 appearances across 2 seasons (she appeared in seasons 2 and 8). In another clever bit of casting, a sitcom star who was a beauty icon with a legendary haircut from the prior generation was cast as the mother of Rachel, a beauty icon with a legendary haircut. Thomas was perfection as the vain and snobby Mrs. Green.

20.) Jessica Hecht as Susan. Appearance Total: 12 appearances across 5 seasons (she appeared in seasons 1–4 and season 6). Some have complained that the woman Ross’s wife Carol left him for was portrayed too coldly, but I found her comic line delivery (mostly insults to Ross) and unexpected moments of warmth (also toward Ross) to be perfectly attuned.

19.) Jon Lovitz as Steve the Stoned Guy. Appearance Total: 2 appearances across 2 seasons (he appeared in seasons 1 and 9). The former Saturday Night Live star’s bizarre energy made for some genuinely unexpected comedy in the show’s first season — and it was even more unexpected when he returned toward the end of the series.

18.) Brooke Shields as Erica Ford. Appearance Total: 1 appearance in Season 2. The former model and child star’s appearance as a crazed fan of Joey’s was so electric that the actress scored an NBC series of her own (Suddenly Susan), which ran for nearly 100 episodes.

17.) Giovanni Ribisi as Frank, Jr. Appearance Total: 9 appearances across seasons 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10. In attempt to deepen the character and give Kudrow more material, the writers created an awkward, dim-witted half-brother for Phoebe who finally gave her a sense of family. Ribisi sold even the weakest material with commitment, humor, and heart.

16.) Ron Leibman as Dr. Green. Appearance Total: 4 appearances across 4 seasons (he appeared in seasons 2, 3, 8, and 10). As Rachel’s rich and ruthless father, the late Ron Leibman dominated every scene he appeared in and deepened the character of Rachel.

15.) Jane Sibbett as Carol. Appearance Total: 15 appearances across 7 seasons (she appeared in each of the first 7 seasons). Initially played by another actress, Sibbett quickly took over the remarkably tricky role of Ross’s ex-wife, Carol. How do you deliver a compassionate, nuanced portrayal that eschews stereotypes when you are playing arguably the highest profile lesbian character on network television to date and when you have been set up by the writers as the antagonist in one of the central dynamics of the show’s early seasons? I have no idea, but Sibbett managed to do it somehow.

14.) June Gable as Estelle Leonard. Appearance Total: 9 episodes across 7 seasons (although the actress also appeared as a nurse in Season One). As Joey’s remarkably tacky, scatterbrained, and utterly incompetent agent, Gable gave one of the most audacious and committed comic performances on the series.

13.) Hank Azaria as David the Scientist Guy. Appearance Total: 5 appearances across seasons 1, 7, and 9. Some characters loom so large in the world of Friends that it seems like they appeared more frequently than they actually did. As Phoebe’s brilliant, eccentric love, Azaria initially appeared in only one episode but was so important to Phoebe’s character arc that he was brought back four more times toward the end of the series.

12.) Bruce Willis as Paul Stevens. Appearance Total: 3 appearances in season 6. One of the four acting Emmys won by the series was for Willis in the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category. As the father of Ross’s much younger girlfriend who starts a romantic relationship with Rachel, his charming brand of tough guy humor worked perfectly in the role and he did some truly great comic work when he finally got in touch with his sensitive side.

11.) James Michael Tyler as Gunther. Appearance Total: 151 appearances across all 10 seasons. Despite appearing in well over half of the series’ episodes, Gunther rarely spoke and never had a subplot of his own. Yet somehow, Tyler turned him into a truly iconic and memorable character with nuanced emotions like crippling anxiety, simmering rage, and intense romantic longing (for Rachel, of course).

10.) Elliot Gould as Jack Geller. Appearance Total: 22 appearances across all 10 seasons. Gould had decades of well-known film and television work under his belt before taking on the role of Monica and Ross’s goofy but loving father. Each of his nearly two dozen appearances garnered big laughs and delivered heartfelt moments.

9.) Aisha Tyler as Charlie Wheeler. Appearance Total: 9 appearances across seasons 9 and 10. Unfortunately, Tyler’s substantive guest arc is mostly known for the fact that she is one of only two non-white actors to make significant appearances on the show (Lauren Tom, who played Ross’s girlfriend Julie in Season Two, was the other). But she should actually be remembered for delivering a comic performance so effortless and dynamic that she is one of the few guest characters of the show’s run that could have effectively joined the ensemble in a regular capacity.

8.) Tom Selleck as Richard Burke. Appearance Total: 10 appearances across seasons 2, 3, and 6. Selleck isn’t particularly known for being a comedian, despite his lighthearted work in shows like Magnum P.I. and films like Three Men and a Baby. And his stint on Friends as Monica’s much older boyfriend wasn’t particularly full of belly laughs. But his maturity, charm, and grace had a huge impact on the show, not to mention the trajectory of the character of Monica Geller.

7.) Reese Witherspoon as Jill. Appearance Total: 2 appearances in season 6. In her pair of appearances as Rachel’s sister, Witherspoon delivered a fiercely committed and boldly unlikable comic performance that showed what Rachel probably would have become had she not opted to forge her own path in the pilot and married Barry the orthodontist.

6.) Alison LaPlaca as Joanne. Appearance Total: 3 appearances in season 3. Joanne easily gets my vote for the most underrated bit character in the 236 episode run of Friends. As Rachel’s unfathomably icy and cruel Bloomingdale’s boss who has a fling with Chandler, LaPlaca brought a welcome edginess to her appearances that the show never replicated. Oh, and her stunning death at the end of her arc was probably as deep as Friends ever dipped its toe into the pool of dark comedy.

5.) Larry Hankin as Mr. Heckles. Appearance Total: 5 appearances across the first 3 seasons. As the bizarre and reclusive old man that lived under Monica and Chandler, Mr. Heckles was a comic highlight of the show’s early episodes. Hankin’s delightfully weird performance was always fascinating, but only in the episode where the gang reconciles with his death is the impact of his character truly felt (particularly on Chandler).

4.) Christina Pickles as Judy Gellar. Appearance Total: 20 appearances across all 10 seasons. As Monica and Ross’s uptight, cold, and often disapproving mother, Pickles established herself early on as one of the most dynamic, nuanced, and impactful recurring characters on the series. She only scored a single Emmy nomination for her role (for Season One), but she should have had several and perhaps even a win.

3.) Christina Applegate as Amy. Appearance Total: 2 appearances across the final 2 seasons. With her role as Rachel’s other sister Amy, Applegate became the fourth and final actor to win an Emmy for her work on Friends. And it was a richly deserving win. She combines cruelty, vanity, aloofness, and ditziness into a masterclass performance of savage one-liners, inspired physical comedy, and even brief moments of heart. Friends would have undoubtedly benefited from Amy debuting earlier and appearing more frequently.

2.) Paul Rudd as Mike Hannigan. Appearance Total: 18 appearances across the final 2 seasons. In recent years, Rudd has mentioned in interviews that he felt like a “prop” during his guest appearances and that he was always on the outside of the main sextet. But that’s not how it appeared to me. With his trademark charm and superb comic timing, Rudd created a fully formed character that believably changed Phoebe’s life and effortlessly blended into the gang without ever stealing too much of the focus. When rewatching his appearances it is absolutely no surprise that he went on to be a big movie star.

1.) Maggie Wheeler as Janice Litman-Goralnik. Appearance Total: 20 appearances across all 10 seasons. Many readers will probably be enraged that I ranked the show’s most hated character in the top position of this list. But hear me out. Was any guest star on Friends as memorable or important as Janice? As the nasal-voiced, obnoxious woman whose on-again-off-again romance with Chandler was a major focal point of early seasons, Maggie Wheeler delivered a comic performance so bold and committed that it elicited a seismic reaction every time she appeared. Wheeler’s performances in the early episodes were so nuanced, skilled, and iconic that the writers opted to bring her back every single season of the show right up until the end. In these later episodes, she typically burst onto the screen during pivotal moments with her trademark exclamation (“Oh…My…Gawd”) and the cast would freeze in shock. Just like the viewers.

Ranking the Legendary Sextet

6.) David Schwimmer as Ross Geller. During the first two seasons of Friends, David Schwimmer’s nerdy paleontologist is arguably the heart and soul of the show; its protagonist and hero. When the show begins he is navigating a divorce and impending fatherhood while having his world further upended by the return of the longtime object of his affection, Rachel Green. In these early seasons, Schwimmer does superb, award-worthy work. But before long, the writers start his character down a very frustrating and often unsatisfying path. For me, it began with his stubbornness and callousness he showed toward Rachel toward the end of their relationship and further devolved with his mental breakdown, his cartoonishly fumbled relationships, and his burgeoning toxic masculinity. Of course, there were many lovely, wonderful, and hilarious Ross moments scattered throughout the later seasons (particularly when he came close to reigniting things with Rachel). But, for me there were too many episodes where he was grotesquely unlikable (“The One with the Male Nanny”) or forced to do cringe-worthy overacting (“The One Where Ross is Fine.”)

• Five Essential David Schwimmer Episodes: “The One with the Birth” (Season 1), “The One Where Ross Finds Out” (Season 2), “The One with the Morning After” (Season 3), “The One Where Ross Can’t Flirt” (Season 5), “The One with Rachel’s Date” (Season 8)

5.) Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani. In stark contrast to Ross, the character of Joey begins weak and one-note and grows into something strong and nuanced over the course of several seasons. In the early episodes, Matt LeBlanc’s Joey is little more than a dim-witted Lothario and LeBlanc appears to be the least polished and skilled actor of the sextet. However, as the seasons go on, his dynamic with Chandler deepens, quirky nuances and trademark comic elements of his character are established, and a deep capacity for love and affection is unearthed. LeBlanc does some truly wonderful work in the show’s middle to later seasons, especially during the infamous “Joey dates Rachel” arc where his character development essentially reaches its conclusion. Unfortunately, for much of the two final seasons he is often reduced to being a profoundly dumb caricature (e.g., “The One Where Joey Speaks French”). It is this late series derailment of Joey Tribbiani by the writers that makes me so flabbergasted to this day why the writers thought a Joey-focused spinoff series could ever work. (For those that never knew — or mercifully forgot — an unsuccessful spinoff called Joey produced 46 episodes from 2004–2006.)

• Five Essential Matt LeBlanc Episodes: “The One Where Chandler Crosses the Line” (Season 4), “The One with Ross’s Sandwich” (Season 5), “The One with the Cop” (Season 5), “The One Where Joey Loses His Insurance” (Season 6), “The One Where Joey Dates Rachel” (Season 8)

4.) Courteney Cox as Monica Geller-Bing. Similar to Matt LeBlanc’s Joey, Courteney Cox’s Monica starts off the series awkwardly performed and uninterestingly written. She is mainly the “straight (wo)man,” the den mother who connects and nurtures all of the other, more interesting characters. But as the series progresses, Monica’s profound insecurity, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, hyper-competitiveness, repressed goofiness, and deep longings become evident and a rich and memorable comic character is established. In stark contrast to Joey, Monica is given great material by the writers right up until the series finale. Cox only gets better as the show goes on and the fact that she is the only member of the ensemble to never score an Emmy nomination (or any major individual acting nomination) for her role is a travesty.

• Five Essential Courteney Cox Episodes: “The One with the Cat” (Season 4), “The One with all the Thanksgivings” (Season 5), “The One with the Proposal (Parts 1 & 2)” (Season 6), “The One Where They All Turn Thirty” (Season 7), “The One with the Donor” (Season 9)

3.) Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing. Let me unequivocally state that Chandler Bing is one of my all time favorite characters and that Matthew Perry should have at least one Emmy for the role (and actually should have two or three). The only reason he does not rank #1 on my list is because there are significant stretches in the second half of the series where Matthew Perry’s performance appears to be heavily impacted by his heartbreaking struggle with addiction. Although he somehow never missed an episode, there are clear indicators in many of them that he was struggling, such as botched line delivery and a drastically transformed physical appearance. But even that unfortunate reality can’t diminish the brilliance of Perry’s work as Chandler Bing. Nearly everything about the character is iconic, including his trademark sarcasm that serves as a shield against his crippling insecurity, his mysterious job, his hideous sweater vests, and his relationships with Joey, Janice, and — eventually — Monica. Although the writers started to struggle with material for him toward the series end (the whole stint in Tulsa was a particularly low point), Chandler was always an essential part of what made Friends work. Equally adept at farcical comedy (e.g., “The One Where Everybody Finds Out”) and heartbreaking drama (e.g., “The One with the Donor”), Perry has never truly gotten the acclaim he deserves.

• Five Essential Matthew Perry Episodes: “The One Where Heckles Dies” (Season 2), “The One with the Metaphorical Tunnel” (Season 3), “The One Where Chandler Crosses the Line” (Season 4), “The One Where Everybody Finds Out” (Season 5), “The One with the Proposal (Parts 1 & 2)” (Season 6)

2.) Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan. Based on her work on Friends, The Comeback, and multiple other projects across film and television, I have little doubt that Lisa Kudrow is the most talented performer of the Friends cast. She is extraordinarily versatile, equally adept at creating memorably wacky comic characters and delivering powerful dramatic moments. What she did with the character of Phoebe is nothing short of astonishing. Introduced as a ditzy, New Age weirdo with a tragic history marked by abandonment, suicide, and homelessness, the comic value and shock value of Phoebe Buffay was evident early on. But what wasn’t evident was how she would ever become deep enough as a character or integral enough to the show for her to work as a full member of the ensemble for the long run. But Kudrow imbued Phoebe with a wittiness, soulfulness, and eccentricity that quickly made her as essential to the series as any other character. Some of the best moments of acting on the show belonged to her, both comic ones (her work in “The One Where Everybody Finds Out” is one of the best comic performances by any actor in television history and her work in “The One with Ross’s Inappropriate Song” isn’t far behind) and dramatic ones (few moments in Friends history have cut as deep as when Phoebe says goodbye to the triplets or when she says her wedding vows). Interestingly, whereas fairly equal credit for the success of the other five Friends characters goes to the actors and the writers, I suspect that Kudrow is predominantly responsible for the wonder that is Phoebe Buffay by transforming some promising scraps of screenwriting into a fully formed, iconic character with some truly inspired acting choices.

• Five Essential Lisa Kudrow Episodes: “The One with Ross’s Wedding (Parts 1 & 2)” (Season 4), “The One Hundredth” (Season 5), “The One Where Everybody Finds Out” (Season 5), “The One with Ross’s Inappropriate Song” (Season 9), “The One with Phoebe’s Wedding” (Season 10)

1.) Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green. I have seen every episode of Friends multiple times, but it was through my two subsequent re-watches of the entire series in chronological order that I developed a full appreciation for the brilliance of Jennifer Aniston’s work as Rachel. It immediately became clear to me on my first re-watch that Friends is first and foremost about the evolution of Rachel Green, and this was only reinforced when I watched the whole 236 episodes unfold again a decade later. The pilot begins with her busting into the Central Perk in a wedding dress having made a drastic life decision that will completely alter her future. She had impulsively made the decision to eschew a life of luxury and instead decides to make a go of it in the real world along with her high school friend and her pals. The end of the series ten years later is largely driven by Rachel’s decision to relocate from New York to Paris with her daughter in tow and how that upends the universe of the show. In between, she learns the meaning of hard work and struggling, she finds and loses true love, she evolves from a struggling waitress to a highly successful executive, and she boldly navigates a surprise pregnancy that fundamentally transforms her life. It is a truly striking thing to compare Rachel in the pilot and Rachel in the series finale. Along the way, Aniston never misses a beat. Her performance rivals Kudrow’s as the most consistent performance on the show. Early on she delivers some truly stunning comic performances that are so good I remain perplexed that it took so many years for the Emmys to fete her (she is particularly brilliant in the Season 2 episodes “The One With Ross’s New Girlfriend” and “The One Where Ross Finds Out”). She delivers a true dramatic tour de force in the entire arc chronicling the lead-up to and the aftermath from her breakup with Ross in Season 3. And then after a handful of seasons where she is a bit more of a supporting player, she roars back to the center of the action in the 8th season with the pregnancy storyline that arguably reinvigorated the show (driving it to its first and only Emmy win for Outstanding Comedy Series and its first and only year ranked as the most watched show in America). Her performances in “The One with the Videotape,” “The One Where Rachel is Late,” and “The One Where Rachel Has a Baby” (which netted her an Emmy) are unforgettable. In the case of Jennifer Aniston and Rachel Green, the focus of the media and fans always seemed to be on their iconic fashions, their beauty, their likability, and the men they became romantically intertwined with. Rarely did either get the credit they deserved for their profound depth.

• Five Essential Jennifer Aniston Episodes: “The One With Ross’s New Girlfriend” (Season 2), “The One Where Ross Finds Out” (Season 2), “The One with the Morning After” (Season 3), “The One Where Rachel Is Late” (Season 8), “The One with Rachel’s Going Away Party” (Season 10)

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