Andrea Anders

This pretty, sweet-faced actress became a familiar fixture on television with her role as Matt LeBlanc’s married next-door neighbor Alex Garrett on the “Friends” spin-off “Joey.’

Born in DeForest, Wisconsin in 1975, Anders earned a bachelor's in fine arts from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and a master's from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts. After grad school, Anders moved to New York and made her debut on Broadway in "Proof" as an understudy, and appeared in “The Graduate" playing Elaine Robinson.

Anders' first TV-land stop was daytime dramas, with appearances on “One Life to Live” as a nanny (ABC, 1998) and then as an office assistant on “Guiding Light” (CBS, 2001). Her next break was a spot on “Law & Order” (NBC, 2001). She then received wide notice for her recurring role on “Oz” (HBO, 2003). Anders also made an appearance on a 2004 episode of the supernaturally inspired “Tru Calling” and in a small role in the failed remake “The Stepford Wives” (2004) before becoming the adorable girl next door on “Joey”—Anders joined the cast after the initial pilot episode was shot, when the producers re-thought and re-cast the role of Alex to make her more neurotic and endearing.