'Friends' Through Thick and Thin

Page 2 of 3

Jan. 25, 2010

These days, though, it's her personal life that has seemed to eclipse her professional life. Aniston, now 40, has made headlines for posing provocatively on the covers of magazines. When she appeared nude on the cover of GQ in January 2009, she told the magazine she feels more comfortable with herself now than in her 20s or early 30s. "I'm healthier. I'm more at peace in my mind and with my body," she said.

She also seems to have made peace with her breakup to Brad Pitt. After their five-year storybook marriage ended, Pitt began seeing Angelina Jolie. While Pitt and Jolie may or may not be ensconced in domestic bliss, with their six children, Aniston has been linked with several different men, including Vince Vaughn, John Mayer, model Paul Sculfor and currently Gerard Butler.

Matthew Perry

Perry, 40, has been unable to find his groove since playing Chandler on the hit sitcom.

His attempts to repeat his "Friends" success on the small screen have fallen flat. His 2006 series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was dropped by NBC after the first season because of poor ratings. Last year, he tried again to return to television as a radio talk show host in "The End of Steve," but the dark comedy was scrapped after just one episode.

Courteney Cox Puts Family First

Perry has had equally bad luck on the big screen. In his first film role after "Friends," Perry played a man a chronically depressed man in the 2007 movie "Numb." The film flopped at the box office. His most recent role in "17 Again" was better received, but he played second banana to star Zac Efron.

In the past, Perry has admitted to struggles with depression and alcohol and prescription drug addiction. Production on 2002's "Serving Sara" had to be shut down for three months while Perry checked into rehab.

"Your consciousness has to change and, I was very lucky and smart enough to realize that at that moment, it was life and death time, and movies, acting, dating, sports and everything just have to take a sideline to this," he told Film Monthly at the time.

Courteney Cox

Cox, 45, turned her focus to family following the end of "Friends."

After trying for so long to get conceive, she was finally pregnant with daughter Coco when "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry wanted to cast her as Susan. The role went instead to Teri Hatcher.

A few years later, in 2007, she launched her comeback playing a tabloid editor in the FX sitcom "Dirt," which she and husband David Arquette produced. The show was canceled after the second season because of poor ratings. A long guest appearance on the NBC series "Scrubs" led to Cox's current role as a 40-something divorced real estate agent re-entering the dating scene in ABC's "Cougar Town."

"I think Courteney Cox is great at playing the comedy of discomfort," executive producer Bill Lawrence told ABCNews.com.

Lawrence, who also produced "Scrubs," approached Cox with the sitcom after he heard through the grapevine that she was looking to do comedy again. "She's a fearless comedian."

Apparently, the role couldn't have come at a better time. According to the Daily Mail, Cox had applied for a license to work as a real estate agent in real life too. With the series off to a good start, Cox has intimated that she'd like to have more children.