What is the educational background of the 'Friends' main cast?

Jennifer Aniston studied Drama at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Arts and Performing Arts. Courtney Cox studied Architecture and Interior Design for a year before pursuing a career in acting. Lisa Kudrow earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. According to Witt Magazine, Matt Leblanc studied Carpentry at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Matthew Perry studied acting at the Rockcliffe Park Public School and Ashbury College. David Schwimmer graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater and speech.

In the Friends universe, Ross/David is the most educated and a paleontologist, Chandler/Matthew specializes in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration, and the rest of the cast has little to do with mainstream study subjects. Rachel/Jennifer works in the fashion industry; Phoebe/Lisa is a masseuse; Joey/Matt is an actor; and Monica/Courteney is a chef. Their educational backgrounds affect the way they earn a living and their lifestyle.

Jennifer Aniston (Rachel)

Jennifer Aniston discovered her passion for acting at the age of 11. The Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music, Art, and Performing Arts in Manhattan, also known as LaGuardia. According to her IMDb bio, she graduated in 1987. Aniston appeared in off-Broadway productions like For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave in the two years following her graduation.

She worked as a telemarketer, waitress, and bike messenger to pay her bills. Before landing the role of Rachel Green in Friends, Aniston was auditioned for the role of Monica Geller. However, Courteney Cox was preferred for the role.

Courteney Cox (Monica)

Courteney Cox attended Mount Vernon College, now the Mount Vernon Campus of the George Washington University, in Washington, DC. However, Cox studied interior architecture and design there. However, she did not complete her course and left to pursue a career in acting and modeling.

As per College Magazine, Brook Goldman, a junior at George Washington University said,

"I actually didn’t know that Courtney Cox was once a student here until I got here, maybe because since she didn’t graduate from Mount Vernon, she’s not technically an alum." "I’m a huge Friends fan, and it makes me so excited thinking that she has probably sat in the same chairs as I do."

Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe)

Lisa Kudrow co-authored a headache research paper that was published after she graduated from college and while working in her father Lee Kudrow's lab. After earning her Bachelor of Arts in biology from Vassar College in New York, Kudrow intended to pursue the same line of work as her father, who studies headaches.

In 2010, Kurdow gave a commencement speech at Vassar University and she frequently visits for trustee meetings. Setse Bush, a sophomore at Vassar said to College Magazine,

"She was buying a snack in front of me; I didn’t know who it was, and I wanted her to hurry up because I was in a hurry." She leaves and my friend was like, "Oh my God, that’s Lisa Kudrow." "So I ran after her to ask her to take a picture with me,"

Matt LeBlanc (Joey)

According to College Magazine, Matt LeBlanc received his high school diploma from Newton North High School in Massachusetts in 1985. LeBlanc initially intended to work as a carpenter in NYC, but his career unexpectedly changed course one day as he stood on a street corner. He met a beautiful young actress whose last name he doesn't remember. While talking, the actress suggested that LeBlanc should meet her manager.

He made his acting debut in a Heinz ketchup commercial two years after finishing high school. In addition, rather than being a junior in college, LeBlanc spent a season as a cast member of the drama “TV 101” in 1988–89 before landing the role of Joey on Friends in 1994.

Matthew Perry (Chandler)

Matthew Perry attended the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. In high school, he tried improv acting, and in 1987, he received his diploma from the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks. He played the role of Chazz Russell in the TV series "Second Chance" in 1987. Later, the show changed its name to "Boys Will Be Boys."

Instead of being a freshman in college after one season of Second Chance, Perry made his acting debut in the movie "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon." Before joining “Friends,” he made cameos in several sitcoms and starred in the sitcom "Home Free."

David Schwimmer (Ross)

David Schwimmer participated in a Southern California Shakespeare acting competition three years in a row and twice took home the top honors. He majored in speech and theater in the School of Communication while he was a student at Northwestern University. Alongside Stephen Colbert, Schwimmer was a member of the improv group "The No-Fun Mud Piranhas."

Even now, Schwimmer is revered among Northwestern students. In the Willard Residential College, where he resided as a student, he is a frequently brought-up subject of conversation among the residents. A junior at Northwestern University, Meilin Jin said to College Magazine,

"My friend was in the same dorm as him (Schwimmer), and some days that’s all she talks about." "I watched Friends grow up myself as well, and I’m so happy that we have him as an alum,"

According to College Magazine, he went back to his college in 2013 to speak at the School of Communication about expanding his acting career and discovering his acting character outside of Friends.