Over 10 seasons, Friends had lots of time to get some huge celebrity guest stars to appear, although it probably wasn’t too difficult trying to convince them to join the biggest sitcom of the time.
Brad Pitt appeared in a meta role as a character who hates Rachel, played by Jennifer Aniston, Pitt’s then-wife. Julia Roberts humiliated Chandler because of childhood trauma he caused in ‘The One After the Superbowl’. Sean Penn got engaged to Phoebe’s twin sister Ursula then got together with Phoebe after calling the engagement off before then mistakenly sleeping with Ursula in a very odd cameo.
Many guest stars, though, weren’t that famous when they appeared in Friends. Many actors got one of their first TV breaks in the sitcom before finding wider success years later. Take a look below at some of the stars who appeared in Friends before they were famous! Do you remember spotting any of them while watching the show?
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Craig Robinson
Before his breakthrough role as warehouse foreman Darryl Philbin in the U.S. Office and before starring in several movies such as Zack and Miri Make a Porno and This Is the End with his buddy Seth Rogen, Robinson played a weary clerk in a 2004 episode of Friends. Clearly not impressed with Phoebe’s, um, quirkiness, he informs her that she can change her name to literally anything. Step forward, Princess Consuela Banana Hammock.
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Mae Whitman
A very young Whitman starred in Friends aged just eight. Appearing in the season three episode ‘The One Where Rachel Quits’, she plays the poor girl whose leg Ross accidentally breaks, leading to him trying to sell hundreds of boxes of cookies as a Brown Bird in an attempt to get Whitman’s character to Space Camp. Whitman went on to have a recurring role in the iconic sitcom Arrested Development as Ann Veal, before becoming a regular in Parenthood and Good Girls.
Emily Osment
When your older brother is Haley Joel Osment, one of the greatest child actors of all time, there’s only one place you’re going. Emily followed her Sixth Sense-starring sibling into show business, becoming almost as iconic for her role as as Lilly, Miley’s best friend, in Hannah Montana. One of her first acting jobs, though, was in Friends in 2001 as Lelani Mayolanofavich, an adorable trick-or-treater who convinces Rachel to give her all of her candy on Halloween.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW2e3BJBsV8
Leah Remini
Survivor of Scientology, survivor of not one but two sitcoms opposite Kevin James, Remini has lived quite the life. Before rising to fame as Doug’s wife Carrie in The King of Queens, she had a small role in Friends in 1995 as a woman giving birth who Joey begins to fall for. And Remini could have actually had a far bigger role in Friends: she auditioned for the part of Monica before the role ultimately went to Courtney Cox.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t20mUPsoiFE
Ellen Pompeo
It pays well to be one of the stars of Grey’s Anatomy. Since debuting as Dr. Meredith Grey in 2005, Pompeo has become one of the richest and recognisable actors in TV. One year before the start of Grey’s Anatomy, she appeared in a season 10 episode of Friends as Missy Goldberg, a girl that gets in the way of Ross and Chandler’s budding college friendship.
Cole Sprouse
It must be hard being a voice actor: you’re incredibly famous, beloved by millions, yet you could easily walk down any street without anyone batting an eyelid. Borstein has hilariously voiced Lois Griffin in Family Guy since 1999 but has really grabbed attention in front of the camera for her recent role as Susie Myerson in the period comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (she’s won two Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her performances). Back in 2003, Borstein had a short but very memorable part in Friends as the intense actor in a one-woman play who absolutely terrifies Chandler in the front row of the theatre (“Why don’t you like me?!”).
