Lisa Kudrow has left fans stunned after revealing the eye-watering sums she and her Friends co-stars still pocket every year in residuals.
Kudrow, who played the eccentric Phoebe Buffay throughout the show’s ten-season run from 1994 to 2004, starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and the late Matthew Perry.
The cast famously negotiated their salaries together, skyrocketing from $22,500 per episode in the first season to a staggering $1million each by the final two seasons.
They later reunited for a one-off special on HBO Max in 2021, reportedly earning a cool $2.5million apiece for the nostalgic return.
But according to Kudrow, even those astonishing paydays pale in comparison to the steady stream of income the cast continues to receive from the show’s global syndication.
Speaking to The Times, the actress, 62, who is currently starring in a new season of The Comeback, revealed the cast still rake in an astonishing $20million a year in residuals.
Lisa Kudrow has left fans stunned after revealing the eye-watering sums she and her Friends co-stars still pocket every year in residuals
Kudrow with her co-stars Matt Le Blanc, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer and the late Matthew perry
In the same interview, Kudrow reflected on why the series continues to generate such enormous residual income, suggesting its enduring success is more than justified.
‘After Matthew died I watched the show again. Before, I only saw what I did wrong or could have done better, but for the first time I truly appreciated just how great it was,’ Kudrow explained, referencing the tragic passing of Perry, who died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54 from the acute effects of ketamine.
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Lisa Kudrow says she felt like ‘an afterthought’ among fellow Friends stars
‘Because there was a genius at work. And whatever any of us do in the future, we will never experience something like that again.’
She added, ‘I felt I did OK, but Jennifer and Courteney? Amazing. David and Matt? They had me laughing so hard. And then Matthew – he was just beyond us all.’
The admission comes after Kudrow recently suggested she was treated as something of an afterthought compared to the rest of her Friends co-stars.
She claimed her castmates eclipsed her in popularity while the hit series was still on air.
‘Nobody cared about me,’ she told The Independent. ‘There were certain parts of [my talent agency] that just referred to me as “the sixth Friend.”’
As Friends became a global hit from its second season, several of her co-stars landed major film roles, while Kudrow has suggested she struggled to secure the same level of opportunities.
Do you think it’s fair that TV stars like the Friends cast still earn millions from old episodes?
The actress, 62, who is currently starring in a new season of The Comeback, revealed the cast still rake in an astonishing $20 million a year in residuals
‘There was no vision for me, and no expectations about the kind of career I could have,’ she said. ‘There was just, like, “Boy, is she lucky she got on that show.”’
Despite those early frustrations, Kudrow went on to build a strong career beyond Friends, including her critically acclaimed HBO series The Comeback.
She co-created the show with Michael Patrick King, who joined her for the interview ahead of its third season and appeared surprised she wasn’t flooded with offers during the height of her Friends fame.
King also pointed out that she was the first of the cast to win an Emmy, taking Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1998.
Kudrow added that it wasn’t until her role in the 1999 comedy Analyze This, starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal, that more substantial and interesting opportunities began to come her way.
The actress previously told how she returned to work within days of welcoming her only child, son Julian, in 1998.
‘I’m looking back, and I had given birth to my son and ten days later I was at a meeting,’ she told CBS Sunday Morning in April. ‘I did the Tonight Show. And then was in a meeting for Analyze This.’
After welcoming her son on May 7, she remembered: ‘My agent’s like, “Yeah, you’ll be okay. You’re not shooting until July, and it’s May. It’s no big deal”.’
‘After Matthew died I watched the show again. Before, I only saw what I did wrong or could have done better, but for the first time I truly appreciated just how great it was,’ Kudrow explained
In a separate interview for Interview Magazine, Kudrow clarified that Phoebe was not especially similar to her in real life, despite how closely she became associated with the role.
‘At first, Phoebe was very, very far from me,’ she said. ‘It took a lot of work to justify the things she would say and do. Not in an irritating way – it was fun.’
Over time, however, she said she grew into the role.
‘Over the course of ten years, a little bit of her came into me,’ Kudrow continued. ‘I lightened up a little more and read some books on spirituality and things, just to try to understand her.’
Kudrow also pushed back on the idea that she ‘only play[s] ditzes,’ and admitted that she doesn’t even consider Phoebe a ditz anymore.
‘In 1994, it was like, “I love her. She’s such a ditz.” And it’s like, yeah, OK, that was what a ditz was to us. Someone who wasn’t toeing the line,’ she said.
