They may have played the happiest BFFs in all of New York City on TV, but in real life,
the stars of Friends haven't exactly had it easy, from drug issues to difficult relationships
to legal troubles. Here are the dark secrets of the cast of Friends.
Matthew Perry has been very candid about his struggles with addiction to prescription pain
pills and alcohol. According to Page Six, Perry has been in rehab twice, once in 1997
and again in 2001. You'd think being on one of the most popular sitcoms at such a young
age would be a dream come true, but Perry continued to struggle. He told Today in 2013,
"I was on Friends from age 24 to 34. I was in the white-hot flame of fame [...] The six
of us were just everywhere all the time. From an outsider's perspective, it would seem like
I had it all. It was actually a very lonely time for me because I was suffering from alcoholism."
Perry reportedly doesn't remember three seasons of the show, but he wanted to make it clear
that he never abused drugs or alcohol while on set. As he told Today,
"I was never high at work [...] I was painfully, painfully hung over. Then eventually things
got so bad I couldn't hide it, and then everybody knew."
In a 2016 appearance on The Hollywood Reporter podcast, Awards Chatter, David Schwimmer revealed
that becoming an instant celebrity following the immediate popularity of Friends in 1994
wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Schwimmer said,
"It was pretty jarring and it messed with my relationship to other people in a way that
took years, I think, for me to adjust to and become comfortable with."
The mega-fame that accompanied his role as paleontologist Ross Geller even became an
issue for Schwimmer's entire approach to acting. He further explained,
"As an actor, the way I was trained, my job was to observe life and to observe other people,
so I used to walk around with my head up, really engaged and watching people. [...] The
effect of celebrity was the absolute opposite: It made me want to hide under a baseball cap
and not be seen."
In a slightly darker echo of David Schwimmer's reaction to fame, Friends co-star Matt LeBlanc
also said that he retreated from the spotlight, but for admittedly more depressing reasons.
Speaking with the Mirror, the actor who played carefree Joey Tribbiani revealed,
“For years and years, I barely left the house. I was burnt out. I wanted to not have
a schedule, not be somewhere. [...] My agent was bummed. [...] I’d call mine and say,
‘Please lose my number for a few years.’ It was a very dark time. I almost had a nervous
breakdown.”
Around 2006, LeBlanc retreated to his Californian cattle ranch and focused his attention on
being a good father to his daughter, Marina. As he told the Mirror,
"Spending time with her is the best thing I've ever done. We have a great bond and it's
the best thing in my life."
While discussing an episode of his comedy series, Episodes, in which his character gets
arrested for drunk driving, Matt LeBlanc admitted to The Telegraph to receiving two DUIs in
real life before he became a household name.
"[It was] when I was young and stupid. I wasn't driving fast, just crooked. The press never
got hold of the mugshots. I was lucky."
The Friends alum went on to claim that acting out those situations in front of the camera
allowed him to avoid them when he's not working. He told The Telegraph,
"It's like pre-emptive therapy. A crystal ball. I see the results of my indiscretions
before they happen [...] These days the writers have to protect me from myself. I pitch stories
to them and they say, 'Oh God, Matt, you don't do that? Don't tell anyone. For God's sake,
go to church!'"
In 2014, a jury found Lisa Kudrow in breach of contract after a lengthy legal dispute
with her former manager, Scott Howard. He filed his suit in 2008, claiming Kudrow, who
played flighty musician Phoebe Buffay, owed him residuals from when he still managed her.
Howard claimed he was owed 5 percent of Kudrow's residuals from her time on Friends, and a
Los Angeles Superior Court jury agreed, ordering Kudrow to hand over $1.6 million, per The
Hollywood Reporter.
"I believe that at the end of the day, the agreement should be honored."
Then things got weird. The jury foreman during the trial wrote a letter to Kudrow's lawyer
and apologized for the verdict, explaining,
"I personally hold her in the highest regard for her bravery, honesty and determination
in facing public scrutiny and media attention for what is and should have remained a private
matter, in order to fight for what she, and now I, believe was right. [...] Please pass
on my personal apology."
Like many celebrities, Courteney Cox, who played perfectionist chef Monica Geller, may
be guilty of going a little too far in the pursuit of the so-called "fountain of youth."
Long-rumored to have had all kinds of plastic surgeries, Cox eventually opened up in 2017
about what she's done to maintain her appearance. Cox told New Beauty,
"I grew up thinking that appearance was the most important thing [...] That's kind of
sad because it got me in trouble. I was trying so hard to keep up, and I actually made things
worse."
Discussing the procedures she's had, the Scream star revealed,
"Well, what would end up happening is that you go to a doctor who would say, 'You look
great, but what would help is a little injection here or filler there.' [...] The next thing
you know, you’re layered and layered and layered. You have no idea because it’s gradual
[...] And it’s worse in pictures than in real life. I have one friend who was like,
'Whoa, no more!'"
Since then, Cox has taken a more natural approach to growing older, and actually attempted to
undo much of the work she previously had done. The Cougar Town star explained,
"I’ve had all my fillers dissolved. I’m as natural as I can be. I feel better because
I look like myself. I think that I now look more like the person that I was. I hope I
do."
"If someone has a little bit of an imperfection, I love it."
Matt LeBlanc has found his personal life in the tabloids on more than one occasion. During
an interview in 2005, LeBlanc admitted that he had interacted with a stripper while on
a motorcycle road trip with five of his friends in Canada. The actor told the National Enquirer,
"The stripper was all over me [...] I was drinking, and she was crossing the line [...] When
I realized the situation that was unfolding I felt I was being careless and irresponsible,
and I had to get the hell out of there."
In 2006, LeBlanc shocked everyone, including his wife, Melissa, when he filed for divorce.
Sources for People claimed at the time that Melissa was "blindsided" by the decision and
hoped that LeBlanc would change his mind. That didn't happen, because LeBlanc was already
dating his Joey co-star, Andrea Anders. According to People, some alleged LeBlanc's relationship
with Anders was one of the causes of his divorce, but LeBlanc didn't comment.
In November 2014, rumors circulated that LeBlanc had cheated on longtime girlfriend Andrea
Anders, after In Touch obtained photos of the actor getting up close and personal with
various women at a Halloween party in Austin, Texas. LeBlanc's team was quick to deny the
report to E!, and said,
"That absolutely did not happen. [...] Fans were coming up to him all night asking for
pictures."
In January 2016, NBC announced that the cast of Friends would be reuniting for the first
time in years for a pre-taped special honoring the career of director James Burrows. Much
to the disappointment of Friends fans everywhere, Matthew Perry's camp soon announced that the
actor would not be at the event because he was in rehearsals for his play, The End of
Longing, in London. While he taped a message for Burrows that aired during the special,
every other Friends cast member made it to the celebration in person, making Perry's
physical absence feel strange.
Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green on Friends, was estranged from her mother,
Nancy Dow, for more than a decade. The rift supposedly had a lot to do with Dow publishing
her infamous tell-all, From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir, in 1999.
Although Aniston claimed in a 2015 interview that her relationship with Dow was fine, the
Emmy winner admitted things were pretty rough for a while, especially when she was growing
up. As she told The Hollywood Reporter,
"She was very critical of me [...] Because she was a model, she was gorgeous, stunning.
I wasn't. I never was. I honestly still don't think of myself in that sort of light, which
is fine. She was also very unforgiving. She would hold grudges that I just found so petty."
"It didn't instil a lot of security in how I felt about my physical appearance."
Jennifer Aniston's surprise wedding to second husband Justin Theroux made headlines for
lots of reasons, including because some notable people were missing from the guest list, including
half the cast of Friends. Just days after news of the event hit the internet, it was
revealed that co-stars Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer were not in attendance.
LeBlanc told People,
"If she wanted me there, I would have been there. [...] I think she's happy. And that's
all I care about."
Aniston's wedding to Theroux was a surprise to everyone, including Perry, who told People,
"It was a surprise to me, as well. [...] They're a lovely couple, and I'm happy for them. [...] I
wasn't invited. So what can you do?"
However, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow were both invited, naturally.
In 2010, David Schwimmer purchased a New York townhouse built in 1852, then immediately
destroyed it to build a six-story mansion, per Page Six. Let's just say nobody on the
street brought him over cookies as a housewarming gift. One resident, who'd lived on the street
for 37 years, told Page Six,
"If I see David Schwimmer on the street, I'll be sure to give him my two cents! [...] People
who have been living here a long time don't like new people coming in."
The Schwimmer hate got so bad that neighborhood residents spray-painted "ROSS IS NOT COOL"
on construction boards outside the property.
Five years after the Friends finale, Courteney Cox returned to television in the ABC sitcom,
Cougar Town. However, during the first season, the show's future was called into doubt when
production was mysteriously halted. ABC said in a statement at the time,
"We can confirm production on Cougar Town has been temporarily shut down in order for
Courteney to deal with a private family matter."
Neither the network nor Cox's representatives gave any more information regarding the specific
family matter she was dealing with. However, in 2010, almost a year later, Cox and her
husband, David Arquette, announced they were separating after 11 years of marriage. Their
joint statement said,
"The reason for this separation is to better understand ourselves and the qualities we
need in a partner and for our marriage [...] We remain best friends and responsible parents
to our daughter and we still love each other deeply."
During an April 2021 appearance on Marc Maron's podcast, Lisa Kudrow opened up about the body
image issues she experienced on the set of Friends. She explained,
"You see yourself on TV, and it's that, 'Oh my god, I'm just a mountain of a girl [...] And
I'm already bigger than [co-stars Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston]. Taller, bigger.
My bones feel bigger, I just felt like this mountain of a woman next to them."
Kudrow admitted that she tried to stay skinny due to her body image issues and perceived
societal standards. The Scandal star explained,
"Unfortunately for a woman, if you're underweight, you look good [...] When I was too thin, I
was sick all the time, a cold, sinus infection, some kind of flu — I was always sick."
Now, the 50-something-year-old has embraced her body, and stopped comparing herself to
other people.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse and mental health, please
contact SAMHSA's 24-hour National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).