Imagine if one of the Friends main characters had been played by another actor. Nowadays, after having been with the group for years, it is almost impossible for us to imagine it. But as actress Lisa Kudrow has said in a new interview, Phoebe could have had another face. The actress had a very difficult time getting the role because she had just been fired from Frasier, another of the great television classics.
Speaking on the SmartLess podcast, a show hosted by a group of well-known actors including Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, the actress spoke to the latter and shared a number of things you may not know. Of course, the most shocking thing is that she was very close to not getting the job to play Phoebe Buffay on Friends.
From Frasier to Friends
Back when Friends hadn’t even started, Lisa Kudrow was looking for an opportunity to land a major role on television. She was cast as Roz Doyle in the TV series Frasier, a role that eventually ended up in the hands of Peri Gilpin, who portrayed her wonderfully.
While the Frasier pilot was being prepared, director James Burrows told her, “This isn’t working.” And the actress, though she tried to get advice on fine-tuning her performance, was devastated to hear about her firing. At the time, even though Frasier hadn’t yet begun its 11-season reign on television, it was easy to imagine that the show would become a hit. After all, it was taking over as a spinoff of Cheers, and that, at the time, was a big deal. So Kudrow was completely devastated by the news.
These were difficult times and the actress survived emotionally and financially with small roles. She managed to appear in the series Loco por ti, which was one of the great successes of the time. It was not a major role and, at first, she was listed in the credits simply as “waitress”. But her small participation pleased the creator of the series and he asked her to return for several episodes. The waitress, Úrsula, had made a name for herself in the series. Úrsula? Strange name, right? The truth is that, without knowing it, the actress was laying the foundations for her great television success.
Your chance comes in Friends
Kudrow says that the situation at the time was not easy. Her agent recommended that she not accept the role of a “waitress” in Crazy About You and she accepted it because her financial situation was difficult. When she was offered to record five more episodes, she was clear about one thing: “I said yes, because that amount would be enough to pay a year’s rent, so I wouldn’t have to get another job.”
With that peace of mind, in a way, of having the year assured, Kudrow received unexpected news. The scriptwriter of Crazy About You, Jeffrey Klarik, partner of the creator of Friends, David Crane, had the idea of recommending her for the role of Phoebe. He found the actress so funny that she fit the profile that the character of Friends would need perfectly.
The problem is that when Kudrow auditioned for Friends, she was reunited with James Burrows. She believes the producer had a lot to do with her firing from Frasier, so it wasn’t exactly a welcome reunion. At the time, Burrows demanded that Lisa audition for the role privately with him. Over the years, she discovered that she was the only cast member who had to do so, so there’s no doubt that he was motivated by her recent firing from Frasier, where the producer might have already become disenchanted with her. She auditioned in a small room reading to the producer, and when she finished, the executive simply told her “don’t notice.” At the time, Kudrow didn’t understand the meaning of this expression and says that all she thought was “Okay, I don’t know what this means. It’s useless.”
Today, we know that this term is used in English in these types of situations when the work done by the person who is doing the test is perfect in itself and does not need any changes. But it is obvious that the attitude of the producer, possibly a little dry, did not leave Kudrow at ease. He, most likely, was not happy either, having been apparently impressed with the test that Kudrow did and that managed to turn the tables on the situation. Later the actress would discover that, as was to be imagined in the context of that situation, she had gotten the job. She played Phoebe Buffay for 10 seasons in what is already considered one of the best comedy series in history.
She also had the chance to reprise her role as Ursula from Mad About You, who turned out to be Phoebe’s twin sister, a character you surely remember from her sporadic appearances. This impossible crossover (and it wasn’t the only one between the two series) was born from the strange twists that fate takes throughout history and was the result of Lisa Kudrow’s dismissal from Frasier.
It was arguably the best thing that could have happened to all of us. The chemistry between Peri Gilpin and Kelsey Grammer on Frasier was fantastic, and Kudrow’s portrayal of Phoebe has become entrenched in popular culture as one of the most charismatic characters on television.
To watch Friends, remember that you have it Complete in Maxits natural streaming platform, and which now also It is available on Movistar Plus+so you can watch the series for 9.99 euros a month. In the case of Loco por ti, unfortunately it is not available on any platform in Spain, so we will still have the itch to see those appearances of Ursula again that we have mentioned.
