 Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green:

A fashion enthusiast and Monica Geller's best friend from childhood. Rachel first moves in with
Monica in season one after nearly marrying Barry Farber. Rachel and Ross Geller are later
involved in an on-again-off-again relationshipthroughout the series. Rachel dates other men
during the series, such as an Italian neighbour, Paolo, in season one; Joshua Bergin, a client
from Bloomingdale's, in season four; Tag Jones, her assistant, in season seven; and Joey
Tribbiani in season ten. Rachel's first job is as a waitress at the coffee house Central Perk, but
she later becomes an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale's in season three, and a buyer at Ralph
Lauren in season five. Rachel and Ross have a daughter named Emma in "The One Where
Rachel Has a Baby, Part Two" at the end of season eight. In the final episode of the series,
Ross and Rachel confess their love for each other, and Rachel gives up a job in Paris to be with
him.
 Courteney Cox as Monica Geller:
The mother hen of the group and a chef,[17] known for her perfectionist, bossy, competitive,
and obsessive-compulsivenature.[18][19] Monica was overweight as a child. She works as a chef in
various restaurants throughout the show. Monica's first serious relationship is with long-time
family friend Richard Burke, who is twenty-one years her senior. The couple maintains a strong
relationship for some time until Richard expresses that he does not want to have children.
Monica and Chandler Bing later start a relationship after spending a night with each other in
London in the season four finale, leading to their marriage in season seven and adoption of
twins at the end of the series.
 Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay:
A masseuse and self-taught musician. As a child, Phoebe lived in upstate New York with her
mother, until she committed suicide and Phoebe took to the streets. She writes and sings her
own strange songs, accompanying herself on the guitar. She has an identical twin
named Ursula, who shares Phoebe's traits. Phoebe has three serious relationships over the
show's run: David, a scientist, in season one, whom she breaks up with when he moves
to Minsk on a research grant; Gary, a police officer whose badge she finds, in season five; and
an on-and-off relationship with Mike Hannigan in seasons nine and ten. In season nine, Phoebe
and Mike break up due to his desire not to marry. David returns from Minsk, leading to the two
getting back together, but she eventually rejects him for Mike when both of them propose to her.
Phoebe and Mike marry in season ten.[20][21]
 Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani:
A struggling actor and food lover who becomes famous for his role on soap opera Days of Our
Lives as Dr. Drake Ramoray. Joey has many short-term girlfriends. Despite his womanizing,
Joey is innocent, caring, and well-intentioned.[22] Joey often uses the catchphrase pick-up line
"How you doin'?" in his attempts to win over most of the women he meets. Joey rooms with his
best friend Chandler for years, and later with Rachel. He falls in love with Rachel in season
eight,[23] but Rachel politely tells Joey that she does not share his feelings. They eventually date
briefly in season ten, but after realizing it will not work due to their friendship and Rachel's
complicated relationship with Ross, they return to being friends.
 Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing:
An executive in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration for a large, multinational corporation.
Chandler hates this job, although it pays well. He attempts to quit during season one, but is lured
back with a new office and a pay raise. He eventually quits this job in season nine due to a
transfer to Tulsa. He becomes a junior copywriter at an advertising agency later that season.
Chandler has a peculiar family history being the son of an erotic novelist mother and a
gay, cross-dressing Las Vegas star father. Chandler is known for his sarcastic sense of humor
and bad luck in relationships.[24] Chandler marries Monica in season seven, and they adopt twins
at the end of the series. Before his relationship with Monica, Chandler dated Janice
Hosenstein in season one and subsequently broke up with her many times.
 David Schwimmer as Ross Geller:
Monica Geller's older brother, a palaeontologist working at the Museum of Natural History, and
 later a tenured professor of palaeontology at the New York University. Ross is involved in an on-
again, off-again relationship with Rachel throughout the series. He has three failed marriages
during the series: Carol Willick, a lesbian who is also the mother of his son, Ben Geller; Emily
Waltham, who divorces him after he accidentally says Rachel's name instead of hers during their
wedding vows; and Rachel, as the two drunkenly marry in Las Vegas. His divorces become a
running joke within the series. Following a one-night stand, he and Rachel have a daughter,
Emma, by the end of season eight. They finally confess that they are still in love with each other
in the series finale.
 James Michael Tyler appears as Gunther, a barista at Central Perk in every season of the show,
but is only ever credited as a guest star. Gunther, at one point, becomes the manager of the
coffee house. It is revealed that Gunther speaks Dutch in addition to English.
In their original contracts for the first season, cast members were paid $22,500 per episode.[25] The
cast members received different salaries in the second season, beginning from the $20,000 range to
$40,000 per episode.[25][26] Before their salary negotiations for the third season, the cast decided to
enter collective negotiations, despite Warner Bros.' preference for individual deals.[27] The actors
were given the salary of the least paid cast member, meaning Aniston and Schwimmer had their
salaries reduced.[clarification needed] The stars were paid $75,000 per episode in season three, $85,000 in
season four, $100,000 in season five, $125,000 in season six, $750,000 in seasons seven and eight,
and $1 million in seasons nine and ten, making Aniston, Cox, and Kudrow the highest-paid TV
actresses of all time.[28][29][30] The cast also received syndication royalties beginning in 2000 after
renegotiations. At the time, that financial benefit of a piece of the show's lucrative back-end profits
had only been given out to stars who had ownership rights in a show, like Jerry Seinfeld and Bill
Cosby.[31]
Series creator David Crane wanted all six actors to be equally prominent,[32] and the series was
lauded as being "the first true 'ensemble' show."[33]The cast members made efforts to keep the
ensemble format and not allow one member to dominate;[33] they entered themselves in the same
acting categories for awards,[34] opted for collective salary negotiations,[33] and asked to appear
together on magazine cover photos in the first season.[35]The cast members also became best
friends off-screen,[36] so much so that recurring guest star Tom Selleck reported that he sometimes
felt left out.[37]
The cast remained good friends after the series run, most notably Cox and Aniston, with Aniston
being godmother to Cox and David Arquette's daughter, Coco.[38] In the official farewell
commemorative book Friends 'Til the End, each separately acknowledged in interviews that the cast
had become their family.[39][40]