They’re still there for you, 25 years later. Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) and Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) hit the small screen with a big bang in September 1994.
And as the world’s favorite “Friends” gear up to celebrate their 25th anniversary, we took a look back at 10 seasons to find some of the best celebrity guest stars who appeared alongside the famed cast of six.
Below are 25 of our favorite “Friends” celebrity cameos, listed in order of their appearance on the show.
1. Hank Azaria: David the Scientist Guy (Azaria) appears as Phoebe’s love interest in the first season but soon has to leave for Minsk. He periodically shows up throughout the series, continuing to pine after Phoebe. (First appearance in season 1, episode 10: “The One with the Monkey”)
2. Jon Lovitz: Monica interviews for a chef position with Phoebe’s restaurateur friend, Steve (Lovitz), who shows up at the apartment stoned. He’s more into eating junk food than the gourmet grub Monica has prepared. Eight seasons later, Phoebe sets Rachel up on an intentionally terrible blind date with the same friend who lost his restaurant because of a drug problem and now makes inappropriate T-shirts. (season 1, episode 15: “The One with the Stoned Guy” and season 9, episode 14: “The One with the Blind Dates”)
3. George Clooney and Noah Wyle: In a not-quite-crossover with another super successful NBC series of the time (“E.R.”), George Clooney and Noah Wyle play two handsome doctors who treat Rachel — who pretends to be Monica for insurance purposes — for a broken ankle. (season 1, episode 17: “The One with Two Parts: Part 2”)
4. Brooke Shields: Joey’s fame as Drake Ramoray on “Days of Our Lives” rises and he discovers he has a celebrity stalker. Joey starts dating Erika Ford (Shields), who thinks that Drake is real and she can see him through the magical box in her living room. Joey breaks off the relationship by pretending to be Drake’s evil twin Hans Ramoray and sends Erika to Salem to find the “real” Drake. (season 2, episode 12: “The One After the Superbowl: Part 1”)
5. Julia Roberts: When the gang goes to visit Ross’s former monkey Marcel on his movie set, Chandler runs into an old schoolmate, Susie Moss (Roberts), whom he humiliated back in the fourth grade. The two start dating, but the relationship turns out to be a ruse for Susie to enact some lingering grade-school vengeance. (season 2, episode 13: “The One After the Superbowl: Part 2")
6. Tom Selleck: Older doctor Richard Burke (Selleck), a friend of Ross and Monica’s dad, reprises his role throughout the series as perhaps Monica’s most prolific love besides Chandler. (First appearance in season 2, episode 15: “The One Where Ross and Rachel … You Know”)
7. David Arquette: When Phoebe notices she’s being followed, she confronts the stalker, who really is a devotee of her twin sister, Ursula. Phoebe plans to help Malcolm (Arquette) get over her sister, but soon learns that his obsession is not so easy to drop. (season 3, episode 3: “The One with the Jam”)
8. Jon Favreau: A customer at the diner with a crush on Monica turns out to be billionaire businessman Pete Becker (Favreau). And though she rejects his advances at first, Monica ends up in a pretty serious relationship with Pete until his desire to become the Ultimate Fighting Champion forces her to end their romance. (season 3, episodes 18 — 24)
9. Ben Stiller: When Ross plans to bring a date to Joey’s play, Rachel scrambles to find one of her own. Tommy (Stiller) has a fierce temper but, for a while, Ross is the only witness to his manic moments. No one believes Ross until the gang catches Tommy screaming at the chick and the duck. (season 3, episode 22: “The One with the Screamer”)
10. Rebecca Romijn: A super messy doctoral paleontology candidate who is out of Ross’ league in the looks department has a disgustingly unhygienic apartment, which results in a short timeline for their relationship. (season 4, episode 6: “The One with the Dirty Girl”)
11. Elle Macpherson: When Chandler moves in with Monica, Joey’s search for a new roommate ends with Janine Lecroix (Macpherson), a dancer from Australia. Joey and Janine eventually start dating, but their fling ends after Janine insults Monica and Chandler, calling them loud and “blah,” respectively. (season 6, episodes 7 — 11).
12. Reese Witherspoon: Rachel’s younger sister Jill (Witherspoon) comes to visit after their daddy cuts her off for reckless spending. Rachel tries to help Jill curb her shopping habits while freaking out over a spark between Jill and Ross. (season 6, episode 13: “The One with Rachel’s Sister”)
13. Bruce Willis: Ross’s relationship with former student Elizabeth (Alexandra Holden) gets even more awkward when Rachel starts dating Elizabeth’s dad, Paul Stevens (Willis), a “neat” guy. Rachel’s relationship with Paul ends after her attempts to get him to open up emotionally result in him turning into a weepy, clingy mess. (season 6, episodes 21 — 23)
14. Susan Sarandon: Joey gets a second chance at “Days of Our Lives” when his character, Drake Ramoray, is set to wake from his coma after a brain transplant from a female character played by seasoned soap opera actress Cecilia Monroe (Sarandon). Joey hooks up with Monroe before she leaves to continue her career in Guadalajara. (season 7, episode 15: “The One with Joey’s New Brain”)
15. Gabrielle Union: Ross and Joey both court their new neighbor Kristen (Union), but when the men’s competition gets too personal, they’re left alone on a date together while Kristen escapes the awkwardness. (season 7, episode 17: “The One with the Cheap Wedding Dress”)
16. Winona Ryder: Rachel runs into an old sorority sister Melissa Warburton (Ryder) at Central Perk before revealing that they drunkenly made out at a college party. When Melissa denies the encounter, Rachel kisses her again to prove her wild side to Phoebe, only to discover that Melissa has obsessed over the moment since their college days. (season 7, episode 20: “The One with Rachel’s Big Kiss”)
17. Sean Penn: When Phoebe discovers that twin sister Ursula’s new fiance Eric (Penn) doesn’t know the real Ursula, Phoebe reveals her sister’s true nature. In the next episode, Phoebe tries to date Eric, but his previous relationship with Ursula puts a damper on their new romance. (season 8, episodes 6 and 7: “The One with the Halloween Party” and “The One with the Stain”)
18. Brad Pitt: Monica invites Will (Pitt), a formerly robust and now extremely attractive high school friend of hers and Ross’s, over for Thanksgiving dinner. After Will gives Rachel death stares throughout the evening, it is revealed that he was the co-founder of the “I Hate Rachel Green” Club in high school with none other than Ross. (season 8, episode 9: “The One with the Rumor”)
19. Alec Baldwin: After a pretty terrible date, Phoebe runs into Parker (Baldwin) at the dry cleaners. They start dating and in the next episode, Phoebe invites him to the Gellers’ 35th wedding anniversary. The super-enthusiastic-about-everything Parker soon gets on everybody’s nerves. (season 8, episode 18: “The One in Massapequa”)
20. Paul Rudd: Joey sets Phoebe up on a blind date with a stranger who eventually turns out to be the love of her life. After some ups and downs in their relationship, Phoebe and Mike Hannigan (Rudd) tie the knot outside Central Perk in the middle of a blizzard. (first appearance in season 9, episode 3: “The One with the Pediatrician”)
21. Freddie Prinze Jr.: Ross and Rachel go through several interviews with prospective nannies for Emma before finding Sandy (Prinze Jr.), a kind and experienced nanny who Rachel loves but Ross is uncomfortable with due to Sandy’s sensitivity and emotional nature. (season 9, episode 6: “The One with the Male Nanny”)
22. Christina Applegate: Rachel’s sister Amy (Applegate) visits the “Friends” a couple of times and doles out many a selfish and tactless comment, proving Rachel’s attempts to help her change her ways to be futile. (season 9, episode 8: “The One with Rachel’s Other Sister”; season 10, episode 5: “The One Where Rachel’s Sister Babysits”)
23. Aisha Tyler: Attractive paleontology professor Charlie Wheeler (Tyler) first strikes up a relationship with Joey at his rooftop party. But when it becomes apparent to her several episodes later that the two have nothing in common, Charlie’s affections divert to the more compatible Ross. That is, until an old flame (Greg Kinnear) makes his own cameo and steals her back. (season 9, episode 20 — season 10, episode 6)
24. Greg Kinnear: Ross’ application for a paleontology grant is to be determined by Benjamin Hobart (Kinnear), an ex-flame of Ross’s current girlfriend Charlie (Tyler). After giving Ross a hard time with irrelevant questions, Benjy reveals he still has feelings for Charlie, who ends up unceremoniously dumping Ross. (season 10, episode 6: “The One with Ross’ Grant”)
25. Danny DeVito: Monica and Rachel throw Phoebe a bachelorette party, but when they discover she wants a stripper, their last-minute entertainment turns out to be Roy (DeVito), a stripper who probably should have retired many years ago. After Phoebe makes him cry, the women at the party let Roy finish his last dance for them. (season 10, episode 11: “The One Where the Stripper Cries”)
