Starring together in what is, arguably, the biggest sitcom of all time is obviously a bonding experience, but the cast of Friends really did become just as close as their characters.
Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay in all ten seasons of the era-defining sitcom that ran from 1994 to 2004, recalls how quickly the cast bonded, and how they were “like puppies just climbing all over each other and playing” in the beginning.
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She told Jessie and Lennie, “The girls had lunch every single day. And sometimes, you know, the guys would join, but we were all close, and especially in the beginning, we were like puppies just climbing all over each other and playing.”
Indeed, it seems like getting together for food is one of the biggest parts of the relationship, and one that still endures.
Lisa said recently, “The most precious part is when we can finally all be in the same place and have dinner. That’s the best.”
And Jen has in the past paid credit to their long friendship, saying, “She’s been my friend and my family for nearly 30 incredible years. [She’s] one of the most talented comedians/actors I’ve had the great honour to work with for all these glorious years and more to come.”
For her part, Courteney has said that the group of women were “always there for each other” from the beginning. “It was always about building the other person up. It was such a team, it was never individual or competitive. We supported each other and that lasted throughout our friendship,” she added.
As well as making friends in the industry, Lisa credits playing Phoebe with changing her own perception of the world. When asked about her favourite thing about the quirky character, she answered, “She lightened me up… and her worldview.”
It’s fortunate the cast became fast friends, because shooting the episodes was taxing work.
Lisa explained, “You rehearse for a week, like a play, and then the audience comes on the fifth day or fourth day, and you shoot it in front of the audience. Normally, a half hour show took about two and a half hours, maybe three to shoot. Ours was six or more hours.
“I was 30/31 when we started. And I was pregnant during that and I was tired, and we’re shooting till two in the morning.”
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Lisa might have fond memories with the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox, but she’s recently opened up on the difficulty being compared to the rest of the ensemble cast.
“Nobody cared about me,” she recently shared with The Independent. “There were certain parts of [my talent agency] that just referred to me as ‘the sixth Friend.’
“There was no vision for me, and no expectations about the kind of career I could have”, she said the general attitude towards her was just like “Boy, is she lucky she got on that show”.
Lisa was the first out of the cast to receive an Emmy for her work on the show, winning in 1998.
She has since gone on to carve a critically-acclaimed career, starring in everything from cult classics like Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion to the comedy series, The Comeback, which she also helped create and returned for a third series in 2026.
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