Lisa Kudrow found Friends to be “a lot of work” because her character was so different to who she is in real life.
Lisa Kudrow found Friends to be “a lot of work”.
The 61-year-old actress became a household name playing Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom, which ran from 1994 to 2004, but the role didn’t come easy to her because she and her alter ego were such different people and she was determined to be a “good student”.
Speaking to Parker Posey for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, she said: “It became fun. It was fun the whole time because the cast had fun.
“Phoebe was so far from who I was as a human being, it was work — I needed to justify everything she was saying in my head so that it felt like she meant it and it was real to her. It was a lot of work.
“I remember Season 2 or 3, I went, ‘Oh my God, I’m not doing the work.’ And [Matt] LeBlanc went, ‘What’s the matter with you? You’re her. You don’t have to.’
“The worst thing was wanting to be a good student. That’s what hurt me the most.”
Parker was most recently seen playing wealthy matriarch Victoria Ratliff in the latest season of The White Lotus and she urged Lisa to pitch for a role in the next installment of Mike White’s satire anthology.
She said: “Oh, Lisa, you should be in Season 4. If there’s a big enough TikTok campaign, then it’ll happen.”
Lisa quipped: “Because that’s how it works. No, it doesn’t.”
Parker agreed: “It doesn’t. Because who knows what Mike White is writing or where these stories are going to go?”
While Lisa would like to work with Mike, she admitted she has reservations about taking on projects that are “too dark”.
She said: “Work with Mike White? Yes. I love Mike White. I’ve hung out with him at a party.
“He’s social. And Brad’s Status was my favorite movie that year. I emailed him to let him know, because I had to — it was so good, I had to. I don’t do that a lot…
“I might not be his cup of tea, which is allowed to happen too. But I do get nervous about inhabiting things that are too dark; I try to avoid that. But you didn’t really have to, except for the scenes where your head’s blown off. But it’s pretend.”
Lisa Kudrow: Friends was a lot of work
