Lisa Kudrow recounts early years struggles playing Phoebe on ‘Friends’

PTI, Sep 14, 2019, 4:30 PM IST

Los Angeles: Lisa Kudrow will forever go down in history of American television for her portrayal of Phoebe Buffay in sitcom “Friends”, but the actor admits that sometimes playing the character was a sheer struggle.

During a recent episode of the YouTube series “Hiking With Kevin”, Kudrow recalled the difficulties she faced in playing the fan-favourite character during the show’s early seasons.

“I had played dumb girls, sure. But it wasn’t really me. I feel like s**t, I tricked them. At the audition, I was the only one who could cope with the audition process and that’s how I got it, I think. So I had to work hard at being Phoebe, you know,” she told the host, Kevin Nealon.

But in this battle, she was comforted by co-star Matt Leblanc, who portrayed Joey Tribbiani in the show.

“I was struggling so much and Leblanc was like, ‘What’s going on with you?’ And I said, ‘I can’t, I don’t think I have it, I mean, I don’t know what I’m doing.’

“And he went, ‘You’re her, relax, you got it. You’ve been doing this f***ing character for three years. You’re working too hard. That’s your problem. You don’t need to work this hard. Relax.’ He was right,” Kudrow said.

The 56-year-old actor also revealed that she has never seen an episode of the show.

“Friends”, which ran from 1994 to 2004, also featured Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, David Schwimmer, and Matthew Perry.