“Friends”: Friendships in the cast were “hard-earned”

She became a global star with the series “Friends”. Now Lisa Kudrow aka Phoebe Buffay has admitted that it was “hard work” for her to become friends with her series co-stars. , it was initially difficult for Kudrow to approach her colleagues and talk to them – hard to believe given the harmony that the famous six friends radiated in front of the camera for ten years.

In front of the camera they were six friends who shared joys and sorrows with each other: Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Ross, Joey and Chandler. “Friends” still symbolizes the ideal coexistence of a group of city dwellers through all the tides of life.

In the podcast “Armchair Expert” with moderator Dax Shepard, Kudrow admitted that she initially had difficulties with her colleagues. In it, she says that the “six-person relationship took some work” and they “worked hard at being friends.” The result of the joint efforts was an authentic chemistry between her, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry, who died in 2023.

In the podcast, Kudrow says that she and her fellow contestants have become real friends over the course of the ten “Friends” seasons. At the same time, this required a type of open communication that she had never experienced before: “I had to learn to ask: ‘Can I talk to you about something?'”She “never knew it was allowed,” but she learned from her fellow actors what “respectful communication” means. “I saw Courteney, Jennifer and Matt demonstrate that very well,” she said.

Before that, she was not familiar with such an honest and straightforward dialogue, says Kudrow. It was “usually not her” who started the conversation first. For this reason, they had to make an effort to “really talk” when misunderstandings occurred so as not to let disagreements become too big.

Kudrow’s learning success and that of her five co-stars speaks for itself. To this day, “Friends” is an almost unrivaled worldwide success. Kudrow’s insight into the secret of the magical “Friends” chemistry comes on the heels of her candid confession that she’s been re-watching old “Friends” episodes recently. She wanted to keep the memory of her co-star Matthew Perry, who died in October 2023, alive and honor her colleague and friend. Previously, she had not been able to watch the episodes “because it was too embarrassing to watch herself,” said Kudrow.