Lisa Kudrow reflects on playing Quirky Phoebe Buffay on 'Friends'

Lisa Kudrow is setting the record straight on her iconic Friends character, Phoebe Buffay.

The actress, 62, told Interview Magazine that while fans often called Phoebe a “ditz,” the quirky musician “wasn’t stupid.”

“At first, Phoebe was very, very far from me. It took a lot of work to justify the things she would say and do,” Kudrow said in conversation with actress Lily Tomlin. “Not in an irritating way—it was fun. 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.”

Reflecting on the public’s early reaction, Kudrow recalled, “Everybody was like, ‘I love her.

She’s such a ditz.’ And it’s like, yeah, okay, that was what a ditz was to us. Someone who wasn’t toeing the line. But to me, she wasn’t.”

Friends, which aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004, followed six friends navigating life in New York City and starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and the late Matthew Perry.

Phoebe, known for her offbeat humor, eclectic jobs, and heartfelt songs, earned Kudrow an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1998.

Kudrow also reflected on the show’s lasting impact on her career.

“Because I was on Friends, I got to create my own shows that didn’t have to be as big, so I could do something like The Comeback or Web Therapy, and that was really fulfilling,” she said.

The actress revisited her Friends experience in multiple interviews, describing her time with the cast as “heaven.”

“We loved each other. Going to work every day was too good to be true, but it really was,” she told Today.com in 2024.