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Lisa Kudrow recalls a run in with Jerry Seinfeld who took credit for ‘Friends’ success, and how perception is everything

Lisa Kudrow is sharing quite a lot these days, from a run-in with Jerry Seinfeld who teased her about how his show was boosting Friends‘ profile, to thoughts about self-perception, and how she never felt good enough.

In a recent chat with The Daily Beast, Kudrow remembers, “I went to some party and Jerry Seinfeld was there, and I said, ‘Hi,’ and he said, ‘You’re welcome,’ I said, ‘Why, thank you … what?'”

According to Kudrow, Seinfeld then told her, “you’re on after us in the summer, and you’re welcome.” At the time, they were the two biggest shows on NBC. Kudrow shared that she virtually never watches Friends these days, because she can’t believe how bad her acting was, or how she looks in comparison to Courteney Cox or Jennifer Aniston.

lida kudrow
Credit: Instagram

This comes as a shock to anyone who calls themselves a Friends fan. Phoebe Buffay, played by Lisa Kudrow, is undoubtedly a firm Friends favourite, with perfect comedic timing, charm, and humour. 

While we watched the rest of the friends cast go through the many ups and downs, Phoebe was a constant ray of sunshine, who exuded an authentic and confident persona at all times.

To learn that Kudrow suffered while filming Friends, was never a story We expected to hear, and with the tidal wave of revelations that have been washing over Hollywood of late, it seems that revelations of this kind, are shining a light on the industry like never before. 

Humanizing actors in a more honest way, knowing that if someone as brilliant as Lisa Kudrow can feel inadequate, then maybe the rest of us shouldn’t feel so bad about not living up to Hollywood’s standard of beauty. 

In a recent interview on the Podcrushed podcast, Kudrow shared that while she was a confident young adult, things did change during filming. “I was confident, and by the way, I half-think that if you are confident, but you have a weakness, that’s when the mob goes for you.” 

“It was until Friends that I realized, ‘Oh, I don’t look like I thought I looked,’” she said. “And that’s what was so jarring, and that’s when it was like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to actually lose weight? Do I have to diet? Shoot.’”

“It wasn’t headlined, it was just seeing myself on the show,” she said.