Matt LeBlanc - Wikipedia

1987–1994: Early career

LeBlanc first appeared in a 1987 Heinz Tomato Ketchup commercial. In 1988, he starred in the television drama TV 101 for one season. In 1991, he had a recurring role on the hit Fox sitcom Married... with Children. He played Vinnie Verducci, a family friend of protagonist Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) who briefly dates his daughter, Kelly (Christina Applegate). He also guest-starred in the first season of Red Shoe Diaries. LeBlanc starred in two short-lived Married... with Children spin-offs: Top of the Heap (1991) and Vinnie & Bobby (1992).

He appeared in two Bon Jovi music videos: "Miracle", from the Young Guns II soundtrack in 1990, and "Say It Isn't So" in 2000.[9] He also appeared in videos for Alanis Morissette's single "Walk Away", Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers's "Into The Great Wide Open" and Bob Seger's "Night Moves".[10]

1994–2006: Friends, Joey and film roles

LeBlanc found success as the dimwitted but lovable Joey Tribbiani on Friends; he played this character for 12 years—10 seasons of Friends and two seasons of Joey. Friends was wildly successful, and LeBlanc (along with co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer) gained wide recognition among viewers. This ensemble situation comedy became a major hit for NBC, airing on Thursday nights for ten years.

For his performance, LeBlanc received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations, three Golden Globe award nominations, and one Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. During this time he also appeared in the films Lookin' Italian (1994), Ed (1996), Lost in Space (1998), Charlie's Angels (2000), and its sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003).

Following the cancellation of Joey, LeBlanc announced that he would be taking a one-year hiatus from acting on television, which eventually turned into five years.[11]

2011–present: Career revival

From 2011, LeBlanc appeared as a fictionalized version of himself in Episodes,[12] a television series about an American remake of a fictional British television series.[13][14] The series is written by Friends co-creator David Crane and his partner Jeffrey Klarik.[15] The role was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award four times and, at the 69th Golden Globe Awards in 2012, LeBlanc was awarded Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy of 2011.[16]

In February 2012, LeBlanc appeared in the second episode of the eighteenth series of Top Gear, where he set the fastest lap time in the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment in a Kia Cee'd. Lapping at 1:42.1, he beat the show's previous record-holder, Rowan Atkinson, by 0.1 seconds.[10] He later appeared in the fourth episode of the nineteenth series to race the new Kia Cee'd, with which he beat his previous time.

In February 2016, the BBC announced LeBlanc had signed on to become one of the new Top Gear hosts,[17] signing a two-year deal later that year.[18] In May 2018, he announced that he was leaving the series in order to spend more time with his family and friends in the US.[19] He and Rory Reid were replaced by new co-hosts Paddy McGuinness and Andrew Flintoff for the twenty-seventh series in June 2019.

LeBlanc played the lead role in the CBS sitcom Man with a Plan, which began airing in 2016 until it was cancelled in 2020.[20]