It’s easy to think of the cast of the sitcom Friends as six young unknowns who suddenly struck it big, but that’s far from the truth. All six were hardworking, if under-appreciated, actors prior to Friends. You’ll probably remember at least some of them after you look through this list of their many previous TV roles. Who knew that Lisa Kudrow would end up playing a relative of an earlier character she portrayed in another sitcom?
18. In 1992, Kudrow was cast in a small recurring role on Mad About You as Ursula Buffay, a waitress at Riff’s (the restaurant frequented on the series) who always forgets everyones order.
Of course, Kudrow would go on to play Ursula’s twin sister, Phoebe. And while starring on Friends, she continued to guest star on Mad About You until the series finale in 1999.
To be honest, someone who watched more TV than I did in the '80s and '90s might know that, but I bet you didn’t realize how many TV roles the Friends stars had under their belts before the series that made them stars.