--- description: The familiar faces you'll see when 'Friends' hits Netflix in January title: 8 Actors Who Got Their Start on 'Friends' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 8 Actors Who Got Their Start on _Friends_ by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/) and [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) Dec 29, 2014 1:00 PM CUT by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/) and [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) Dec 29, 2014 1:00 PM CUT ### Jon Favreau  FRIENDS -- "The One with the Screamer" Episode 22 -- Air Date 04/24/1997 -- Pictured: (l-r on couch) Jon Favreau as Pete Becker, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller (l-r behind) Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Ben Stiller as Tommy, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green (Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) NBC/Getty Images After _Swingers_ but before he directed films like _Elf_, _Chef_ and _Iron Man_, Jon Favreau played Monica’s super-rich husband who wants to become an Ultimate Fighting Champion. ### Aisha Tyler  FRIENDS -- "The One in Barbados Part 1 -- Episode 23 -- Aired 5/15/2003 -- Pictured: (l-r) Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Aisha Tyler as Charlie Wheeler, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller -- Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank NBC/Getty Images Aisha Tyler played Charlie, the paleontologist who dates both Joey and Ross. But neither proves smart enough for her: She prefers Nobel prize winners. After _Friends_, Tyler went on to star in _24_ and now voices Lana Kane on _Archer_. ### Paul Rudd  FRIENDS -- "The One With Phoebe's Wedding" -- Episode 12 -- Aired 02/12/2004 -- Pictured: (l-r) Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Paul Rudd as Mike Hannigan -- Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank NBC/Getty Images Sure, Monica and Chandler were a great couple, and the will-they-or-won’t-they drama of Ross and Rachel was endlessly entertaining. But the best pairing on the show was Phoebe and Mike, played by an utterly lovable Paul Rudd. Rudd has had perhaps the most successful career of the _Friends_ vets: _Anchorman_ premiered the same year that _Friends_ wrapped, and the comedian quickly shot to superstardom with _The_ _40-Year-Old Virgin_, _Knocked Up_, _Role Models_ and _I Love You, Man_. ### Cole Sprouse  385848 23: Actors Cole Mitchell Sprouse (Big Daddy) as Ben and David Schwimmer as Ross Geller star in NBC's comedy series "Friends" episode "The One with the Holiday Armadillo." Ross has Ben for the holidays and decides that this season, they will celebrate Chanukah instead of Christmas. (Photo by Warner Bros. Television) NBC/Getty Images You know that kid who played Ross’ son (that he barely ever saw) Ben? He went on to star as Cody in the Disney Channel’s _The Suite Life of Zack & Cody_. ### Michael Rapaport  FRIENDS -- "The One with the Ride Along" Episode 20 -- Air Date 04/29/1999 -- Pictured: (l-r) David Schwimmer as Dr. Ross Geller, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Michael Rapaport as Gary (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) NBC/Getty Images Before his roles in _The 6th Day_, _Hitch_ and _The Heat_, Michael Rapaport was Pheobe’s cop boyfriend, who she had to break up with after he shot a bird. ### Rebecca Romijn  FRIENDS -- "The One with the Dirty Girl" Episode 6-- Pictured: (l-r) David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Rebecca Romijn as Cheryl (Photo by Gary Null/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) NBC/Getty Images Before she was Mystique in the _X-Men_ movies, Rebeca Romijn baffled the Friends by dating Ross despite being super hot. (Though too be fair, the Rachel-Ross combination never really made sense either.) But Ross ultimately breaks up with the girl because her apartment is filthy and has rodents living in it. ### Steve Zahn  FRIENDS -- "The One with Phoebe's Husband" Episode 4 -- Air Date 10/12/1995 -- Pictured: (l-r) Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Steve Zahn as Duncan (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) NBC/Getty Images Best known for roles in _Sahara_ and _Dallas Buyers Club_, Zahn first played Phoebe’s gay ex-husband and ice dancer in an early episode of _Friends_. ### Tate Donovan  FRIENDS -- "The One with Rachel's Crush" Episode 13 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Tate Donovan as Joshua Bergen (Photo by Alice S. Hall/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) NBC/Getty Images In the 1990s, Tate Donovan was probably best known as Jennifer Anniston’s real-life boyfriend. They played an onscreen couple too: Rachel goes to great lengths, even donning her old cheerleading outfit from high school, to win the affection of Joshua. Donovan went on to stints on _The O.C._ as Jimmy Cooper, _Damages_ as Tom Shayes and _24: Live Another Day_ as Mark Boudreau as well as roles in films like _Good Night, and Good Luck_ and _Argo._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3641206/friends-netflix-actors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3641206/friends-netflix-actors/"},"headline":"8 Actors Who Got Their Start on Friends","datePublished":"2014-12-29T13:00:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:45.572Z","description":"From Paul Rudd to Jon Favreau and Aisha Tyler","url":"https://time.com/3641206/friends-netflix-actors/","keywords":["Television","photography","Friends"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3641206/friends-netflix-actors/","name":"8 Actors Who Got Their Start on Friends"}}]}] ```