Lisa Kudrow Defied Critics After They Called Her “The Sixth Friend”

Lisa Kudrow is beloved for her role of Phoebe on “Friends,” but apparently that wasn’t always the case.

Kudrow says she was referred to as “the sixth Friend” and that “nobody cared about me,” in an interview with The Independent.

---

Lisa Kudrow: “Nobody Cared About Me”

Although “Friends” was a cultural sensation, in the early seasons Kudrow felt she didn’t benefit from a career boost.

“Nobody cared about me,” she said.” There were certain parts of [my talent agency] that just referred to me as ‘the sixth Friend.'”

Although she won the Emmy for Oustanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Phoebe in 1998, she says it didn’t impress her critics.

“There was no vision for me, and no expectations about the kind of career I could have. There was just, like, ‘Boy, is she lucky she got on that show.'”

However, things began to change after her role in “Analyze This,” starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal. Kudrow played Laura MacNamara, fiancée to Crystal’s Dr. Ben Sobel.

“That’s when the agents and business people started circling, wanting to put me in romantic comedies and things,” she revealed. “I knew that wasn’t gonna work,” she added, joking “I’m just not adorable!”

---

Kudrow Never Thought Phoebe Was “A Ditz”

Kudrow spoke with Lily Tomlinson for Interview Magazine earlier this year, and touched on her role as Phoebe.

When asked about finding characters who are “slightly delusional,” she answered, “It must be a part of who I am. To me, the funniest thing is someone who has no idea that they’re operating in an alternate reality.”

However, she never found the character of Phoebe to be too airheaded.

“At the time, it was like, ‘She’s such a ditz. How is it that you only play ditzes?’ And I thought,’ Is she a ditz?’ To me, she wasn’t,” she said.

“At first, Phoebe was very, very far from me. It took a lot of work to justify the things she would say and do. Not in an irritating way – it was fun,” she shared.

“Over the course of 10 years, a little bit of her came into me. I lightened up a little more and read some books on spirituality and things, just to try to understand her.”