Where Friends child stars are now – married to famous singer, bitter family feud and advert banned for being ‘too sexy’
THEY were the little angels who stole the show on Friends – and, let’s be honest, could they be any cuter?
But nearly 20 years on, what became of the child stars who appeared on the iconic US sitcom alongside A-listers like Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer?
This week, Cole Sprouse, 30, who played Ross’s son Ben, hit out at his estranged mother Melanie for pushing him and his twin brother Dylan into acting.
From the age of 12, the pair auditioned for movies and TV shows, even landing their own Disney Channel show, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
On Steve Bartlett’s Dairy Of A CEO, Cole, who now stars in Netflix hit Riverdale, said: “It made a lot of financial sense for her to push us into acting. I think it satisfied some sort of narcissism she probably had in order to be recognised as some sort of artistic success.”
In light of his explosive revelations, we take a look at how other child actors on Friends fared after the show came to an end in 2004.
Cali and Noelle Sheldon (Emma)
Identical twins Cali and Noelle, 20, took turns playing the role of Emma, Ross and Rachel’s baby.
The character was initially portrayed by another set of twins before the Sheldon sisters took over.
Their biggest role to date has been in the horror flick Us alongside Black Panther stars Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke.
Although they still attend auditions, Cali has said her dream is to become a biochemist, explaining she wants to “become a chemist and cure cancer”.
She added: “Then I want to petition for women to be allowed into a football league.”
Dakota Fanning (Mackenzie)
Having acted since the age of five, Dakota is perhaps the most famous child star to come out of Friends.
The 29-year-old played Mackenzie, the little girl who lived in the house Monica and Chandler eventually bought.
After her one-episode stint as the smart-mouthed youngster, she has enjoyed success in blockbusters like Ocean’s 8 and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
At the age of just eight, she became the Screen Actors Guild’s youngest ever nominee for her role in 2001’s I Am Sam.
In 2011, aged 17, she starred in a Marc Jacob advert which was banned for being too sexually provocative – she later defended the clip and said she never understood what the fuss was about.
She courted more controversy in 2019 when pictures were leaked of her starring in the movie Sweetness in the Belly as a Muslim woman in Ethiopia.
Alongside producers of the movie, she was also slammed for the “culturally insensitive” choice.
The star has been romantically linked to Henry Fyre since 2017. With Dakota being so coy about her love life, fans have been left to speculate whether they are still together.
Daryl Sabara (Owen)
Daryl, 30, was already a big name before appearing on the show, having starred in Spy Kids.
He played Owen, the boy who found out he was adopted, thanks to Chandler’s blabbing.
Afterwards, Daryl had a recurring role on Weeds and a voice part on Ultimate Spider-Man.
In December 2018, he tied the knot with singer Meghan Trainor on her 25th birthday after two years of dating.
They welcomed their first child, a son called Riley, in 2021 and announced in January this year that they were expecting their second child.
Meghan has gushed about their relationship in interviews and once said: “I’m just extra obsessed with him and he’s extra romantic about everything.”
In 2019, Daryl found himself in legal trouble when he was charged with vandalising a car in Los Angeles.
It was alleged that he ripped off the car’s custom side panels with his bare hands, while the vehicle’s confused owner claimed they didn’t know Daryl.
Kyla Pratt (Charla Nichols)
Kyla Pratt, now 36, has been in the acting industry since the age of seven and appeared on an episode of Friends in 1996.
She played Charla Nichols, who clashed with Ross and even branded him a “scrud”.
She’s since had roles in productions including The Proud Family, Dr Dolittle, and One on One.
The star is now part of the cast of US reality TV show Black Ink Crew: Compton, appearing alongside her fiance, Danny “KP” Kirkpatrick, a tattoo artist and rapper.
In a Tumblr post, Kyla was forced to address rumours that KP, who is the father of her kids, previously worked as a stripper.
She wrote: “This whole he is a stripper and changed careers real quick so I wouldn’t look crazy is some bulls***. Just like every man out here, he found a side hustle that had nothing to do with selling drugs, robbing people, or anything where he would be put in jail.”
Mae Whitman (Sarah Tuttle)
Mae, 34, played Charla’s friend Sarah who Ross injured and ended up selling cookies for.
Since then, she’s appeared in show of the biggest TV shows around, including Desperate Housewives, Arrested Development, and Good Girls.
She has also established herself as a voice actor and has starred in The Jungle Book 2, Young Justice, and Teenage Mutant Ninjs Turtles.
Mae made her film debut in Scott Pilgrim vs the World and played Mary Elizabeth in the 2012 film The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
In August 2021, she came out on Pansexual on Twitter and said she could “fall in love with people of all genders.”
Emily Osment (Lelani Mayolanofavich)
Emily, 31, played Lelani, the little girl who hilariously received a cheque from Rachel while trick or treating.
A few years later, she landed the part of Lilly Truscott in the hit Disney series Hannah Montana alongside Miley Cyrus.
Although she played Miley’s best friend on the show, the singer later revealed that they didn’t always get along on set in her autobiography Miles to Go.
Miley wrote: “There was competition between us – girls struggle with that, and we were no exception. I didn’t do much to fix it.”
Since 2022, Emily, whose brother Hayel is also an actor, has been playing Mandy McAllister on Young Sheldon and has even ventured into music with two albums under her belt.
Tahj Mowry (Little Boy)
Although Tahj, 36, has starred in a string of successful projects including Kim Possible, Smart Guy, and The Game, he admits some fans still remember him for his brief role on Friends.
He played one of several kids Phoebe sang to in a 1996 episode of the show.
Tahj is the brother of twins Tia and Tamera, who starred in their own sitcom Sister, Sister.
He dated the late Glee star Naya Reveira for two years from 2000 and remained close friends with her till her death in 2020.
A year after her death, he said in an interview: “She was definitely my first everything. I think subconsciously it’s why I never really date like that because no one really ever… I know some day someone might, but it’s hard to measure up to the type of girl and woman she was.”
Alexandria Cimoch (Phoebe’s triplets)
Phoebe’s decision to be the surrogate for her brother Frank’s triplets remains one of the most endearing stories on the show.
She was seen in emotional scenes with the babies – one of whom was played by Alexandria Cimoch, who was just a baby when the scenes aired in 1997.
Alexandria starred alongside her three brothers Paul, Justin, and Cole.
Two years ago, in her early 20s, she went viral when she revealed her identity, with many fans remarking she looked like Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe.
In April that year, the TikTok star, who has over 20,000 followers, also shared snaps of her and her siblings on their graduation from the University of Wisconsin.