What happened to Marcel the monkey from Friends and what is the primate doing now?

Not Marcel doing a photoshoot with The Kardashians


Marcel the monkey was one of the best characters in Friends, and his dance moves are undisputed as being iconic. But since leaving Friends, what did the monkey go on to do, and what is it up to now? Let’s find out!

Marcel the monkey is actually played by a female white-faced capuchin called Katie, who appeared in multiple TV shows after her appearance on Friends. Katie appeared in eight Friends episodes, including The One With the Monkey and The One Where the Monkey Gets Away.

After Katie’s appearance on Friends, she went on to appear in episodes of The Loop, 30 Rock, and Sam and Cat.

After almost ten years of semi-retirement, Katie now plays Ampersand, the primate companion of the last man on Earth in the series, The Last Man.

John Landgraf, who used to work on Friends and now works on The Last Man, spotted Katie and recognised her as Marcel when he was reviewing pilot footage. He said: “I recognise that monkey!”, he said at an industry party this summer. There’s nothing like a really experienced actor who knows how to hit their marks!”

Marcel monkey Friends

Via YouTube

But it seems like not everyone is such a fan of Katie. Matt LeBlanc told Jimmy Kimmel that whilst he liked the monkey, David Schwimmer wasn’t her number one fan.

He said: “I liked the monkey. I like animals, Schwimmer, not so much.” As for what David thought of the monkey? He said in an interview: “I hate that monkey, I wish it was dead.” Brutal.

Katie has also spent time with The Kardashians and did a photoshoot with Kendall Jenner in 2015. Apparently, the monkey loved Kendall and would constantly play with her hair.

In 2023, Katie is now the unofficial mascot for the Los Angeles baseball team. With dance moves like hers, the cheerleaders should watch their backs.

Friends is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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Featured image via Netflix