Which of the ‘Friends’ cast has the most Emmy nominations (and wins)?
“The Bear” broke an Emmys comedy record this year by securing the most ever nominations — 23 — in a single year for a comedy show. The previous record was held by “30 Rock,” which snagged 22 citations in 2009.
10 of those 23 bids for “The Bear” came for acting, making the FX show one of this year’s kings of comedy acting. The show joins the likes of “30 Rock,” “Modern Family,” “Veep,” and “Friends” as another comedy series to snag multiple Emmy nominations for its eclectic comedic cast. The latter show, in particular, was beloved by audience members as the six main cast members — Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer — turned in excellent performances throughout the 10 seasons of the NBC show.
Aniston played the it-girl Rachel Green, who was at the center of the show thanks to her will-they-won’t-they relationship with Schwimmer’s paleontologist Ross Gellar. Cox played Schwimmer’s on-screen sister, neat-freak head chef Monica Gellar, who eventually became Monica Bing after she married Perry’s sarcastic, rapid-fire Chandler Bing. Kudrow featured as the spiritual, kookie Phoebe Buffay who married Paul Rudd’s Mike Hannigan in season 10 while LeBlanc played the dopey, lovable, ladies-man actor Joey Tribbiani. Each actor inhabited their character so well that ask any “Friends” fan who their favorite of the six is, and you’re sure to get a different response every time.
Let’s break down each of these actors’ success at the Emmys in terms of Emmy nominations. First, we’ll rank them in order of overall Emmy nominations across their whole careers, then we’ll focus on their citations for “Friends” only.
Overall Emmy Nominations
Lisa Kudrow — One win, 15 nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 1995
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 1997
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 1998 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 1999
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 2000
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 2001
- Best Comedy Actress, “The Comeback” — 2006
- Best Short Form Series, “Web Therapy” — 2012
- Best Reality Program, “Who Do You Think You Are?” — 2012
- Best Structured Reality Program, “Who Do You Think You Are?” — 2014
- Best Comedy Actress, “The Comeback” — 2015
- Best Structured Reality Program, “Who Do You Think You Are?” — 2017
- Best Structured Reality Program, “Who Do You Think You Are?” — 2018
- Best Structured Reality Program, “Who Do You Think You Are?” — 2019
- Best Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), “Friends: The Reunion” — 2021
Jennifer Aniston — One win, nine nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 2002
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 2001
- Best Comedy Actress, “Friends” — 2002 — WON
- Best Comedy Actress, “Friends” — 2003
- Best Comedy Actress, “Friends” — 2004
- Best Comedy Guest Actress, “30 Rock” — 2009
- Best Drama Actress, “The Morning Show” — 2020
- Best Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), “Friends: The Reunion” — 2021
- Best Drama Actress, “The Morning Show” — 2024
Matt LeBlanc — Zero wins, eight nominations
- Best Comedy Actor, “Friends” — 2002
- Best Comedy Actor, “Friends” — 2003
- Best Comedy Actor, “Friends” — 2004
- Best Comedy Actor, “Episodes” — 2011
- Best Comedy Actor, “Episodes” — 2013
- Best Comedy Actor, “Episodes” — 2014
- Best Comedy Actor, “Episodes” — 2015
- Best Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), “Friends: The Reunion” — 2021
Matthew Perry — Zero wins, five nominations
- Best Comedy Actor, “Friends” — 2002
- Best Drama Guest Actor, “The West Wing” — 2003
- Best Drama Guest Actor, “The West Wing” — 2004
- Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actor, “The Ron Clark Story” — 2007
- Best Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), “Friends: The Reunion” — 2021
David Schwimmer — Zero wins, three nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Friends” — 1995
- Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor, “The People vs. O.J. Simpson” — 2016
- Best Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), “Friends: The Reunion” — 2021
Courteney Cox — One nomination, zero wins
- Best Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), “Friends: The Reunion” — 2021
“Friends” Only Nominations*
*This is not counting their Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) nomination for “Friends: The Reunion.” All six cast members were nominated for this.
Lisa Kudrow — One win, six nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 1995
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 1997
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 1998 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 1999
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 2000
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 2001
Jennifer Aniston — One win, five nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 2002
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Friends” — 20001
- Best Comedy Actress, “Friends” — 2002 — WON
- Best Comedy Actress, “Friends” — 2003
- Best Comedy Actress, “Friends” — 2004
Matt LeBlanc — Zero wins, three nominations
- Best Comedy Actor, “Friends” — 2002
- Best Comedy Actor, “Friends” — 2003
- Best Comedy Actor, “Friends” — 2004
David Schwimmer — Zero wins, one nomination
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Friends” — 1995
Matthew Perry — Zero wins, one nomination
- Best Comedy Actor, “Friends” — 2002
Courteney Cox — Zero nominations
So, there you go. Kudrow is the most nominated actress in both fields, earning the most Emmy bids across her career with a huge 15 citations while also picking up the most nods specifically for “Friends” with six nominations. She is also only one of two of the six “Friends” actors to win an Emmy. Both she and Aniston won for “Friends,” although Kudrow won for Comedy Supporting Actress and Aniston took home Comedy Actress. However, seven of Kudrow’s 15 citations came for producing. She has the same amount of bids for acting as Aniston — eight each.
All six of Kudrow’s “Friends” bids came for Comedy Supporting Actress, which is the most nominations in any one category out of all six of these performers.
Cox is the unlucky one here. She is the only one of these six great comedic actors to never secure an Emmy nomination for “Friends.” In fact, she has never been nominated for any acting performance in her career and her only bid came as a producer on “Friends: The Reunion.” She and the five others were nominated for that show in 2021 for Best Variety Special (Pre-Recorded).
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