When a sitcom lasts for ten seasons, it’s bound to have quite a few celebrities pop up over the years. A high-profile, super popular show like Friends is no exception, and in fact probably had many more celebrity cameos than others. After all, there was nothing quite like seeing a star you knew and loved amidst your favorite Friends.
Today, we’re going to attempt to narrow down those Friends cameos to the top 15, but we should note that we are only counting the one-offs and not the celebs that appeared in more than one episode. Don’t worry, we’ll look at those eventually. Let’s get to it!
15. Jeff Goldblum - “The One with the Mugging” (9x15)
Jeff Goldblum plays the director and star of a stage play that Joey is excited to audition for. When coming back for a second audition, Joey has to pee really badly, and gives a weird performance that Goldblum’s character actually likes. The plot here isn’t the most innovative; what you’re really here for is Goldblum giving classic inexplicable lines like, “Don’t learn the words, let the words learn you” and “…don’t be afraid to explore the vertical.”
14. Susan Sarandon - “The One with Joey’s New Brain” (7x15)
Joey is finally going to get another chance on Days of Our Lives — Dr. Drake Ramoray is about to come out of his coma thanks to a brain transplant from a long-running character on the show played by Susan Sarandon. Though Sarandon’s character is upset at being killed off Days, she agrees to help Joey learn more about her character. This episode is also memorable for featuring Ross “playing” the bagpipes.
13. Freddie Prinze Jr. - “The One with the Male Nanny” (9x06)
Ross and Rachel need a nanny for daughter Emma, and end up hiring Sandy, a male nanny that Ross is not super comfortable with as he is very sensitive and emotional. In the end, Ross decides to fire him, but not before confiding in him his own feelings of not being “man” enough growing up.
12. Gary Oldman - “The One with Monica and Chandler’s Wedding” (7x23)
It’s the big day for Monica and Chandler, and Joey is supposed to be their minister to marry them, but ends up getting cast in a World War I film, in scenes opposite Gary Oldman’s character, actor Richard Crosby. This cameo is most memorable for Joey and Crosby repeatedly spitting in each other’s faces as they perform their scene together.
11. David Arquette - “The One with the Jam” (3x03)
Phoebe notices a man keeps following her around — eventually she confronts him, and realizes he thought he was following her twin sister Ursula, who actually has a restraining order against him. Despite these tendencies, Phoebe likes him, and the two of them start dating, until she gets suspicious that he’s still stalking Ursula, which, you know, he is.
10. Brooke Shields - “The One After The Superbowl, Part 1” (2x12)
After Joey debuts on Days of Our Lives as Dr. Drake Ramoray, he’s excited to have fans, particularly one named Erika, played by Brooke Shields. It turns out, though, that while she may be pretty, she’s crazy — she thinks Joey is actually Drake and not an actor, and it’s only through some shenanigans with the other friends that he’s able to get away from her.
9. Denise Richards - “The One With Ross And Monica's Cousin” (7x19)
Denise Richards guest stars at Ross and Monica’s visiting cousin Cassie, who they haven’t seen in years, and has obviously grown up to be quite a looker. She originally stays with Monica and Chandler, but when Monica catches Chandler ogling Cassie, Cassie goes to stay with Ross instead. Of course, Ross is also struck by her beauty, and even tries to make a move after convincing himself she wants it too, but, uh, no. Finally, she goes to stay with Phoebe, who is also struck by her beauty. What makes it all the more memorable is the song played every time she whips her hair around, which is what gets each of them entranced by her.
8. Billy Crystal and Robin Williams - “The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion” (3x24)
Billy Crystal and Robin Williams have a unique cameo appearance on the show as they only appear in the opening scene and not the rest of the episode. The scene was completely ad libbed and unplanned — Robin and Billy just happened to be on the lot nearby (likely doing something for their film Father’s Day, which debuted in theaters the day after this episode aired on TV), and the writers asked if they’d like to make an appearance. They agreed, and the scene was filmed right then and there as it was already shooting day for the show.
7. Rebecca Romijn - “The One with the Dirty Girl” (4x06)
Ross thinks he has it made when he meets a beautiful woman played by Rebecca Romijn who also happens to be into paleontology. The only problem? She’s a massive slob, which he finds out when she invites him over to her place. Though Joey tries to convince him to get over it and move forward with her anyway, in the end he can’t stand it.
6. Isabella Rossellini - “The One with Frank Jr.” (3x05)
The gang all discuss which celebrities they would put on their “list” of people they’re allowed to sleep with even if they’re in a relationship. Ross wants to put Isabella Rossellini on his, but ends up switching her for Winona Ryder as she’s more local and Rossellini is in another country. But, it turns out that’s not true — Rossellini is actually in New York, and happens to visit Central Perk. Ross tries to hit on her even though he moved her off his list, but she finds out and rejects him in a great comedic moment.
5. Winona Ryder - “The One with Rachel’s Big Kiss” (7x20)
Winona Ryder guest stars as a former sorority sister of Rachel’s that Rachel reveals she once kissed. Phoebe doesn’t believe her, and she tries to get Ryder’s character to confirm, but she also says Rachel is mistaken. In the end, it’s revealed that the two did kiss, but to Ryder’s character it meant a lot more than just one kiss one evening, and she tries to make a move on Rachel. Rachel isn’t in to that, but the best part of the whole storyline is when Phoebe kisses Rachel at the end of the episode just to see what all the fuss was about.
4. George Clooney and Noah Wyle - “The One with Two Parts, Part 2” (1x17)
During the height of ER popularity, two of its cutest doctors headed over to Friends for a guest stint as, well, doctors, though not the same ones from their show. In this episode, Rachel hurts her ankle and gets Monica to agree to let her use her health insurance to get it fixed. They end up getting a date with the aforementioned two cute doctors played by George Clooney and Noah Wyle, but the date goes wrong when the two girls have to pretend to be each other.
3. Jean-Claude Van Damme - “The One After the Superbowl, Part 2” (2x13)
When the gang is visiting a film set that Marcel the monkey has a role in, the girls spot Jean-Claude Van Damme. While Monica has a huge crush on him, she’s afraid to go talk to him, but Rachel isn’t, and comes away with a date. That pisses Monica off, which leads to an escalating back and forth fight between them. In the end, neither one goes on a date with him, as they realize their friendship is more important.
2. Julia Roberts - “The One After the Superbowl, Part 2” (2x13)
In the same episode as Van Damme, Chandler meets a girl he embarrassed in elementary school (in fourth grade he lifted up her skirt and showed her panties to the entire class), Susie, played by Julia Roberts. He ends up asking her out, and after some wild sexual encounters, she asks him to wear her underwear to a romantic dinner. But, it turns out Susie is not really over the elementary school embarrassment — she tricks Chandler into stripping down in the bathroom and takes all of his clothes, leaving him in just her underwear. Whoops!
1. Brad Pitt - “The One with the Rumor” (8x09)
Brad Pitt appears as a guy who went to high school with Monica, Ross, and Rachel — he used to be really overweight, but of course is now skinny and hot. Rachel doesn’t remember him, but he remembers her — she was mean to him in high school, so he and Ross created an “I Hate Rachel Green” club, and started a terrible rumor about her that she never knew about, but everyone else did. Pitt didn’t do very many comedic roles at the time, so it was a fun cameo, especially since his character hated Rachel, and he and Jennifer Aniston were married at the time.
Who had your favorite celebrity cameo on Friends? Do you agree with our ranking? Let us know in the comments!
- Tom Hanks was originally going to play Sandy in “The One with the Male Nanny” but couldn’t make it in time due to filming conflicts, so Freddie Prinze Jr. was cast instead.
- Originally, the writers were going to make Monica, not Rachel, pregnant at the end of season seven. But, they thought that was too conventional and wanted a more dramatic cliffhanger.
- “The One After the Superbowl” two-parter was the most-watched episode of Friends, drawing 52.9 million viewers — of course, that was the point, as it debuted right after the Super Bowl.
- Matthew Perry dated Julia Roberts for several months after her separation from her first husband in 1995 — the episode featuring Roberts aired in January 1996.
- Apparently Rachel’s last name should be Greene and not Green, even though almost every official site like IMDB, for instance, lists it as Green. But, when you pause and look at episodes where they show her last name, such as on the invitation to Ross and Emily’s wedding, it is actually spelled Greene.
- Tom Hanks was originally going to play Sandy in “The One with the Male Nanny” but couldn’t make it in time due to filming conflicts, so Freddie Prinze Jr. was cast instead.
- Originally, the writers were going to make Monica, not Rachel, pregnant at the end of season seven. But, they thought that was too conventional and wanted a more dramatic cliffhanger.
- “The One After the Superbowl” two-parter was the most-watched episode of Friends, drawing 52.9 million viewers — of course, that was the point, as it debuted right after the Super Bowl.
- Matthew Perry dated Julia Roberts for several months after her separation from her first husband in 1995 — the episode featuring Roberts aired in January 1996.
- Apparently Rachel’s last name should be Greene and not Green, even though almost every official site like IMDB, for instance, lists it as Green. But, when you pause and look at episodes where they show her last name, such as on the invitation to Ross and Emily’s wedding, it is actually spelled Greene.
