Lisa Kudrow Starts Watching ‘Friends’ for the First Time, Two Decades Later
More than two decades after Friends concluded its original run, Lisa Kudrow has begun watching the series in full for the first time, offering a rare perspective on one of television’s most widely syndicated sitcoms from one of its central cast members.
Speaking during a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kudrow said she has been gradually working her way through the show’s ten seasons. The viewing habit, she explained, is recent and developed out of routine rather than an intention to revisit her past work. “I just wanted something to watch before bed,” she said, noting that she turned to Friends after running out of other sitcoms.
Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay throughout the show’s run from 1994 to 2004, acknowledged that watching the series has not come naturally. She said she avoids watching episodes when others are around, describing a sense of discomfort with seeing herself on screen. “I wait until my husband goes to sleep,” she said, adding that she finds the experience of watching her own performances “embarrassing.”
Despite that hesitation, Kudrow said the distance from the show has changed how she experiences it. Rather than viewing the episodes as a reflection of her own work, she now sees them more as a viewer would, with a level of detachment from the production process.
“It feels like I’m watching someone else,” she said, describing how time has altered her perspective. She also revealed that, during the show’s original run and in the years immediately following, she had not watched most of the episodes. As a result, many storylines and scenes now feel unfamiliar.
That unfamiliarity has led to moments of rediscovery. Kudrow described recently watching an episode featuring actor Alec Baldwin, who guest-starred during the show’s later seasons. While she remembered his involvement in the series, she did not recall the details of the episode itself.
Seeing it again, she said, prompted a strong reaction. Kudrow described laughing to the point of tears at a scene she had not remembered, highlighting how her experience of the show now differs from when she was involved in its production.
Following the episode, she said she contacted her former co-star Matt LeBlanc to share her reaction, underscoring the continued connection among members of the original cast.
Kudrow’s comments come as she prepares for the return of The Comeback, the HBO series she co-created with Michael Patrick King shortly after Friends ended. The new season is scheduled to premiere on March 22 and was filmed on the same soundstage used for , a detail Kudrow described as emotionally significant.
The Comeback first premiered in 2005, with a second season released in 2014. Kudrow has indicated that the upcoming third season will conclude the series, framing it as a complete narrative rather than an ongoing project.
