Friends star Lisa Kudrow played Phoebe Buffay on the iconic sitcom, but she had got used to rejections for “series regulars” on other comedies at the time.
Lisa Kudrow missed out on sitcom roles because she was “not gorgeous” enough.
The 63-year-old Friends legend, who played Phoebe Buffay on the beloved comedy from 1994 to 2004, has insisted she understood getting snubbed for certain roles when casting directors wanted to go in a different direction.
She told The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast: “I didn’t look like women who were getting cast as series regulars on sitcoms.
“They still wanted a certain look — very pretty and appealing and all of that — and not that funny, right, except for Shelley Long…
“I was told, ‘It’s very hard because you’re not gorgeous, and they want gorgeous.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay’…
“I don’t think that’s ridiculous. I got it. Also, it’s not just how you look; it’s how you act, too. I’m not ‘cute.’ And God, I didn’t want to be cute.”
Lisa recalled trying to push for the role of Rachel Green in Friends before Jennifer Aniston landed the role.
She explained: “Idiot that I am, I went, ‘Oh, but you know what? I got to say, Rachel is Jewish. And boy, I love doing a Jewish American Princess. I think I could make that really funny.’
“Not even clocking that, ‘Oh no, this is the romantic lead to Ross.’ Right? I told my agents, ‘I can do Jewish American Princess and make that really funny.’
“And so they said, ‘Uh-huh. All right. Well, we’ll tell them [the show’s creators].'”
Lisa revealed how her team told her she was set to play Phoebe instead, and admitted she thought there were other reasons.
She added: “They [later] went, ‘No, no. It’s so hard for them to find Phoebe. They’re not messing with that.’
“So that was the sweet way of saying, ‘Yeah, you are not the romantic interest.’”
Meanwhile, Lisa also reflected on her decision to watch Friends for the first time since filming the show, following the tragic death of Matthew Perry aged 54 in 2023.
She said: “It was great watching it. It became my right-before-bedtime laugh or two. I watch sitcoms before going to bed — I just want to laugh before going to bed.
“Some things were like, ‘Oh, I remember that,’ but a lot of it I don’t remember and it was like watching it for the first time — I mean, especially scenes that Phoebe wasn’t in, because I hadn’t seen that — and boy, everyone was good!
“I was just talking to [David] Schwimmer two days ago and saying, ‘God—’ Well, first I had to say sorry, because on Jimmy Fallon I’d said, ‘Ross was a terrible boyfriend!’
“And he just laughed and said, ‘That’s all right.’ He hasn’t really watched it either, and I said, ‘It’s so fun. Everyone is so good!’”
Lisa Kudrow reveals brutal way sitcom bosses let her down before Friends role
