Lisa Kudrow is recalling the behind-the-scenes help she had on mastering the character of Phoebe Buffay.
The Golden Globe nominee, 61, credited her Friends co-star Matt LeBlanc with helping her through a bit of fatigue she had with her beloved character.
She admitted on SiriusXM’s Where Everybody Knows Your Name that it took ‘if not a year and a half, maybe two seasons, before I felt like I had Phoebe down.’
‘The things she said were so outrageously illogical that in order for me to justify them, you know, I felt like ‘Oof!” said Kudrow.
‘It just took a lot of work to figure out, ‘All right, how is it possible that I think this is true or a good idea or a reasonable thing to say?”
Lisa Kudrow credited her Friends co-star Matt LeBlanc with helping her through a bit of fatigue she had with her beloved character
She admitted on SiriusXM’s Where Everybody Knows Your Name that it took ‘if not a year and a half, maybe two seasons, before I felt like I had Phoebe down’
Kudrow recalled around season 2 or 3, ‘I’m like, “Something’s wrong,” ’cause I’m not doing the work I was doing.
‘I’m slacking off. I’m being lazy and I was getting really mad at myself, and LeBlanc came. He said, “What’s going on with you?”
”I said, “I’m being lazy,”‘ she continued. ‘”I’m not doing the work that I did first season, second season. I’m not doing the work I did for Phoebe, so it can’t be good.”
‘And he went, “No, you know who the character is now. You don’t need to do the work you did. You got it,” and I went, ‘What? Oh,” added Kudrow.
After co-host Ted Danson noted that LeBlanc, 57, made her feel ‘relaxed,’ Kudrow said, ‘That was enough.
‘It’s sort of like someone shook me ’cause I was getting hysterical,’ she continued.
‘I wasn’t literally getting hysterical, but you know like if you’re getting hysterical, someone slaps you back. You’re like, ‘Oh, thanks. That’s what I needed.”
After their co-star Matthew Perry previously died at age 54 in October, Kudrow revealed last month that she’s begun re-watching Friends.
‘Honestly, I wasn’t able to watch it because it’s too embarrassing to watch yourself. But if I make it about Matthew, then that’s OK,’ she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Kudrow recalled around season 2 or 3, ‘I’m like, ‘Something’s wrong,’ ’cause I’m not doing the work I was doing’
‘And he went, ‘No, you know who the character is now. You don’t need to do the work you did. You got it,’ and I went, ‘What? Oh,” added Kudrow
After their co-star Matthew Perry previously died at age 54 in October, Kudrow revealed last month that she’s begun re-watching Friends
‘And it’s just celebrating how hilarious he was — and that is what I want to remember [about him],’ added Kudrow. ‘No one ever knew that cadence or comedic rhythm before him.’
Kudrow reflected on her days on set with Perry, ‘You’re just laughing all day long, basically, in between the scenes, because these are funny people.
‘And especially someone like Matthew, whose goal was: How many laughs can I get in real life every day? So we were always laughing so hard, tears were flying out of our faces.’
Friends ran for 10 seasons on NBC from 1994 to 2004, and the cast got together for a reunion special on HBO Max in 2021.