Cali and Noelle Sheldon
Before landing in 2019's Us, the twins who shared the role of baby Emma Geller-Greene earned parts in college films, local stage work and a 2007 pilot, maintaining a healthy perspective on the cutthroat world of acting. "I'm not very competitive because you usually don't get the roles," Cali told Bustle in 2015, "and if you do, it's cool, but if you don't it's nothing to be sad about, because the person who got it is going to do great."
The two have also made it a point not to be too impressed with themselves. "Our friends think it's really cool because they think we're famous," Noelle told ET that same year. "I particularly don't think we're famous or anything because we were babies, so people aren't going to say, 'Oh, you're baby Emma from Friends.'"
Cole Sprouse
Though he and twin Dylan Sprouse have been acting since they were eight-months-old, Coles struggled through some of his seven appearances as Ross' son Ben. Sure, everyone was "tremendously nice," as the actor put it to the New York Post, but it was hard working alongside Aniston, "because I was so in love with her. I was infatuated. I was speechless—I'd get all bubbly and forget my lines and completely blank."
Though he went on to star in many iterations of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody with Dylan and current hit Riverdale (with now-ex-girlfriend Lili Reinhart), he's still fond of his earlier work: "People can call me 'Ben' on the street and I will turn around."
Dakota Fanning
Since her 2004 cameo as the wise-beyond-her-years kid who helps Joey accept Monica and Chandler's move, the SAG nominee has booked dozens of roles in movies (including Ocean's Eight and the Twilight franchise) and TV (from 2018 to 2019, she starred in TNT's period drama The Alienist.)
But younger sis Elle Fanning still hasn't seen her guest spot on the sitcom. "I had an [audition] to be on Friends once....I think I was gonna be one of Phoebe's triplets," Elle recalled in a 2019 chat with PorterEdit. "I auditioned for it but I didn't get it and I was like, 'I'm boycotting the show, I'm never watching this again.'" So when her sister was cast, "I refused to watch the episode."
Emily Osment
The small screen life suits the actress. A few years after appearing as trick-or-treater Lelani Mayolanofavich (who accepts a check from eager-to-please Rachel), Haley Joel Osment's sister landed a career-making gig on Hannah Montana alongside Miley Cyrus.
Then, following a string of smaller work, Emily headed back to the tube with ABC Family's Young and Hungry. "I thoroughly enjoy sitcoms; the schedule that comes with them and the camaraderie you feel with a certain group of people," she told Backstage in 2015. "I did a show for five years and took a little bit of a break, went to college, did some music. And then my first pilot season back from all that, I read this script and loved it."
Daryl Sabara
Already a star thanks to Spy Kids when he turned up on Friends (Daryl played Owen, a kid who learns he's adopted through Chandler's inadvertent blabbing), he stayed on track after his 2003 stint. Standout gigs include a recurring role on Weeds and a voice part on Ultimate Spider-Man, but perhaps his most treasured title came when he married singer Meghan Trainor in December 2018.
"I'm just extra obsessed with him and he's extra romantic about everything," Meghan gushed of her new husband at the 2019 Grammys. Days after she welcomed their son Riley Feb. 8, Daryl posted an Instagram tribute to his "forever Valentine," writing, "I'm so beyond grateful for you bringing our son into the world."
Mae Whitman
Now starring on NBC's Good Girls—and perhaps most fondly known from Arrested Development and Parenthood—Mae still maintains good memories of her child actress days, including a spot as Brown Bird Sarah Tuttle, who landed in a cast after Ross sent her tumbling down the stairs.
"Growing up as a kid actor, I feel like it could really go either way," she told The Huffington Post in 2017. "I luckily had a super strong family base. My parents have always been so amazing and [are] my heroes. They really were so careful all along the way to choose projects that were with good people and honest people, and also they really gave me the gift of choosing if I wanted to do something or not."
Kyla Pratt
"My mom did a lot of theater when I was younger and I caught the bug just like mommy," the mother of two told Great Day Washington of entering the business at age seven. Her memorable turn as disapproving Brown Bird Charla Nichols, who labeled Ross a "scrud" for breaking Sarah's leg, led to parts on other sitcoms such as Family Matters and Sister, Sister as well as film work including Love & Basketball and the Doctor Dolittle films. But her most notable role may have been her voice work as Penny Proud on Disney Channel's The Proud Family.
Tahj Mowry
Little brother to Tia and Tamera Mowry, Tahj's lengthy list of credits includes a five-year stint on Kim Possible and Baby Daddy, plus three years on BET's The Game. But he admits he still gets recognized for playing "little boy," one of several kids Phoebe sings to in the 1996 post-Super Bowl episode.
"You wouldn't believe how many texts I get from people whenever that episode comes on," he told TVLine. "Our Baby Daddy director Michael Lembeck directed that episode of Friends, so he still says I helped him win an Emmy. I'm like, 'Sure, Michael, you're welcome!'"
Allisyn Ashley Arm
Of the triplets Phoebe birthed for brother Frank, Allisyn may have the most active film and television career to date. Though Dante Pastula (Frank Buffay Jr. Jr.) was in 2004's The Polar Express and Sierra Marcoux (Chandler Buffay) appeared in 2007's The Poughkeepsie Tapes and 2006's He's a Bully, Charlie Brown (as the voice of Sally) before beginning her career in the military, Allisyn appeared with Demi Lovato on Sonny with a Chance, its spinoff So Random! and most recently in A.P. Bio, now on Peacock.
She's got a side hustle, too. "My dad wanted to make sure I wouldn't get bored or rowdy in the waiting rooms of auditions, so he bought me a sketchbook and sets of markers, crayons, and colored pencils," Allisyn told Relate Magazine of her child actor days. "Luckily, I'm still able to make time to draw and paint."