Friends star Lisa Kudrow has accused the show’s predominantly male writing team of openly discussing their sexual fantasies about her female co-stars.
The actress became a household name thanks to her starring role as ditzy masseuse Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom, featuring in every episode during its ten-year run.
But she says life on set was at odds with its carefree premise, with each 22-minute episode taking as long as six hours to film in front of an expectant studio audience in Los Angeles – thousands of miles away from its New York City setting.
‘There was definitely mean stuff going on behind the scenes,’ Kudrow, 62, told The Times.
‘Don’t forget we were recording in front of a live audience of 400, and if you messed up one of these writers’ lines or it didn’t get the perfect response they could be like, “Can’t the b**** f****** read? She’s not even trying. She f***** up my line.”‘
Kudrow claims her female co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox would also be the subject of lurid conversations amongst its largely male writing team.
Friends star Lisa Kudrow has accused the show’s predominantly male writing team of openly discussing their sexual fantasies about her co-stars while working late into the night
She said: ‘The guys would be up late discussing their sexual fantasies about Jennifer and Courteney. It was intense.
‘Oh, it could be brutal, but these guys – and it was mostly men in there – were sitting up until 3:00am. Trying to write the show so my attitude was, “Say what you like about me behind my back because then it doesn’t matter”.’
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”.’
However, the star said she ended up filming the big budget comedy, which also stars Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal, significantly earlier.
She recalled: ‘In the meeting, Billy Crystal’s saying, “Yeah, I mean, you look great. Are you sure you’re able to do this? When did you give birth?” And I told him. He’s like, “Alright, well, we start Thursday”.’
Her loved ones even encouraged her to return to work.
The former Friends star said: ‘I remember my husband’s parents were visiting from France. My parents were around. Everyone around went, “Of course, you can do it.”
‘And I said, “But it’s wrong. I have a newborn”.’
Kudrow claims her female co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox would be the subject of lurid conversations amongst its largely male writing team
The actress says life on set was at odds with the show’s carefree premise, with each 22-minute episode filmed in front of an expectant studio audience in Los Angeles
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Lisa Kudrow recalls ‘insane’ choice to return to work 10 days after giving birth
She was assured by her camp that ‘a baby nurse will go with you [to] look after the baby. [The] baby won’t remember anything. It’s fine.’
In retrospect, the longtime actress said it was ‘insane’ to pick up her work schedule so soon after becoming a new mom.
Kudrow even shared that she suffered a ‘smidge’ of postpartum depression.
‘I thought, “This is insane,” but I need to defer to everybody else because I know my brain’s not working right now. Too many hormones, I’m a little like, just like a smidge depressed,’ she recounted.
Kudrow shares Julian, 27, with husband Michel Stern, 67.
Speaking to The Independent, the actress claimed that co-stars Aniston, Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and the late Matthew Perry eclipsed her in popularity while the series was still on television.
‘Nobody cared about me,’ she said. ‘There were certain parts of [my talent agency] that just referred to me as “the sixth Friend”.’
As Friends became a megahit from its second season, several of her costars leveraged that success to secure choice film roles, but Kudrow appeared to think the same kinds of deals eluded her.
‘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 feeling unappreciated earlier in her career, Kudrow has since found enduring success on a variety of shows beyond Friends, including her HBO series The Comeback.
