Viewers saw the main characters in Friends go from struggling young adults to (somewhat) more mature adults ready to start their own families, but their ages throughout the series were quite inconsistent – so, how old would the main characters in Friends be in 2022? The 1990s was an important decade for sitcoms, as there were a variety of successful and widely popular TV shows from that branch, but few can be compared to the impact and legacy of Friends. Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, Friends premiered on NBC in 1994 and lived on for a total of 10 seasons, coming to an end in 2004 and making TV history in the process.
Friends followed the lives of a group of six young adults in New York City who did their best every day to balance their social, personal, and professional lives, all while dealing with everything that adulthood threw their way, making way for a lot of humorous situations. Over the course of ten seasons, viewers saw Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Rachel, and Ross grow in every aspect of their lives, but when it comes to exactly how much they aged through the whole series, it all gets confusing. Friends was pretty inconsistent with its characters' ages, with their birthdays changing all the time and some of them having the same age for three seasons, even though each season covered a year.
Even with all those obstacles, it’s still possible to come up with an approximation of the ages of the main characters in Friends, and here’s how old they would be in 2022.
Monica Geller
Out of the main group in Friends, Monica (Courteney Cox) is the one whose age was more consistent throughout the show. Although her age wasn’t constantly mentioned, it’s known that she was around 24 years old during the pilot episode, and with each season covering a year, she would have been 34 by the end of Friends. Taking that into account, Monica Geller would have been born in 1970, so in 2022, she would be 52.
Chandler Bing
Chandler (Matthew Perry) is one of the oldest members of the group, and he wasn’t safe either from inconsistencies around his age, though not as badly as others. Chandler was around 26 years old in the first season of Friends, so he was born in 1968, meaning he was 36 at the end of the series and would be 54 in 2022.
Phoebe Buffay
Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) went through so much in her life that she didn’t even know her exact birthdate, and it turned out she was actually a year older than she thought – and it didn’t help that her birthday changed throughout the series. It’s understood, then, that Phoebe was 27 years old during the pilot episode of Friends, so by the end of the series she was 37. Phoebe was the oldest one of the group and would have been born in 1967, so in 2022, Phoebe would be 55.
Joey Tribbiani
Joey’s (Matt LeBlanc) age is one of the most inconsistent ones in Friends, as he was 25 in the pilot and suddenly 28 in season 2, but it was later revealed that he was 13 in 1981. Taking that last one into account, Joey would have been born in 1968 and so he was 26 years old in the first season of Friends and 36 at the end of the series. Joey, then, would be 54 years old in 2022.
Rachel Green
Rachel’s (Jennifer Aniston) age is also quite confusing, as she was 29 years old for two seasons and her birthday changed a couple of times throughout the show. However, she’s the youngest one in the group as she was the last one to turn 30, so she was probably 23 years old in the pilot episode, so she was born in 1971 and was 33 by the end of the series. In 2022, Rachel would be 51.
Ross Geller
Ross (David Schwimmer) was also a victim of the ever-changing ages in Friends, and he was 29 years old through seasons 5, 6, and 7, but he must be the same age as Chandler or at least very close as they went to college together. Ross, then, was most likely 26 years old during the first season of Friends (and it makes sense that he was two years older than Monica), 36 at the end of the show, and in 2022 he would be 54, having been born in 1968.