Friends Cast: Where Are They Now?
14. Lauren Tom (Julie)
Lauren Tom was an early Friends guest star, playing Julie, the second major roadblock between Ross and Rachel (the first being swarthy Italian Paolo). While Paolo felt a little too written for TV and unrealistic, Julie was grounded and relatable.
We were supposed to boo Paola and hope for Rachel to ditch him for Ross. When he gropes Phoebe, the audience skips right past how embarrassing that might have been for her and jumps into celebrating the fact he and Rachel would inevitably break up. With Julie though, things were a little different.
She wasn’t a bad person, she wasn’t getting in Rachel’s way, she wasn’t using Ross... she just wasn’t Rachel. Or, more accurately, she wasn’t Rachem.
Post Friends, Tom found huge success playing both Amy Wong and her mother on cult animated classic Futurama. Initially a guest starring role, the Comedy Central revival years saw her promoted to main cast as a mark of Amy’s growing importance moving forwards.
This role sits alongside several other voice acting credits, in the likes of Teen Titans, DC Super Hero Girls, Scooby Doo, Young Justice, Kung Fu Panda, The Boondocks... Tom certainly hasn’t been short of roles.