Lisa Kudrow Says theFriendsCast 'Worked Hard' to Become Tight-Knit: 'That Six-Way Relationship Took Some Work'

Mar. 15, 2025

(l-r) Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matt Le Blanc as Joey Tribbiani, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay in ‘Friends’.Photo:NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Lisa Kudrowis sharing how theFriendscast really felt about each other.

During a recent appearance onDax Shepard’sArmchair Expertpodcast, Kudrow, 61, talked about why she never gets sick of reminiscing on her time onFriends.She explained that the cast always had fun on set because they were as tight-knit offscreen as they were onscreen.

“It was great, we really did get along,” she said. “We also worked hard at being friends. That six-way relationship took some work and we did it.”

From top to bottom: David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Matt Le Blanc as Joey Tribbiani, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay in ‘Friends’.NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

When she first heard of the role, Kudrow revealed that she was recently fired from a job onFrasierwith famed directorJames “Jim” Burrows, who was also running herFriendsaudition. To her surprise, it was just the two of them in the casting room, and Kudrow admittedly didn’t know how it went when she left.

“I really thought, ‘I’m not his cup of tea, I’m not for him. How much of a say does he have in things?’” she laughed. “I do the audition, and he goes, ‘No notes.’ And I walk out thinking, ‘That either means, I give up, she’s helpless, or it’s, I’m perfect. No notes.’”

She ended up getting the role, but she never anticipated just how big the sitcom would become.

“Here’s what a bad judge of whether a show’s going to be successful or not I am,” she said. “I was like, ‘It’s cute. It’s notSeinfeldor sort of groundbreaking comedy anything.’ I was just glad it was on NBC because I had a recurring role onMad About You!”

Kudrow also revealed that playing Phoebe Buffay onFriendswas challenging at first “because she [was] so different” from the rest of the group.

“One of the issues with the character was, how do we let the audience know why they’re friends with her?” she recalled, joking that she was always told to do more quirky things than her costars.

Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay on ‘Friends’.David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images

David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images

Only recently has Kudrow started re-watchingFriends,which Shepard, 49, noted is playing on cable television at all times, followingMatthew Perry’s death in October 2023.

“He just was so funny,” she said of Perry. “It was just this whole appreciation. I was like, ‘I’ve gotta watch all of them.’”

Perry,who died of an accidental drug overdose, had been open about his struggle with substance use in the past. Prior to his death, he had been sober, and Kudrow said she was proud of him, despite how his life ended.

“This will sound odd,” she explained. “I’m more comforted that he was happy the day he died. He got to die happy. And to me, that was a gift.”

“I loved that Matthew I first met and the one at the end,” she added.

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Friendsis available to stream in full on Max.

source: people.com