Lisa Kudrow Reveals She Felt Overlooked and Was Called ‘The Sixth Friend’ on the Hit Sitcom

Lisa Kudrow has opened up about feeling overlooked during her time on the hit sitcom Friends. The actress, who played the quirky Phoebe Buffay, admitted that she sometimes felt like she didn’t get the recognition she deserved. In an interview with the Independent published Saturday, Kudrow said, “Nobody cared about me. There were certain parts of [my talent agency] that just referred to me as ‘the sixth Friend.’”

Despite this, Kudrow’s performance earned her critical acclaim. She won an Emmy in 1998 for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Still, she recalled that many people didn’t expect her to have a long career in Hollywood. “There was no vision for me, and no expectations about the kind of career I could have. There was just, like, ‘boy is she lucky she got on that show,’” she said.

Friends ran for ten seasons from 1994 to 2004 and became one of the most popular TV shows of all time. Kudrow has reflected on how playing Phoebe shaped her. She told Interview magazine in a recent Q&A with Lily Tomlin that at first, Phoebe was very different from her own personality. “It took a lot of work to justify the things she would say and do. Not in an irritating way — it was fun,” she explained. Over the years, Kudrow said she absorbed some of Phoebe’s traits into her own life. “I lightened up a little more and read some books on spirituality and things, just to try to understand her,” she added.

Kudrow also pushed back on the idea that Phoebe was a “ditz,” a label some viewers gave her character. “At the time, it was like, ‘She’s such a ditz. How is it that you only play ditzes?’ And I thought, Is she a ditz? To me, she wasn’t,” she said.

At 62, Kudrow has also been candid about aging and her choices in Hollywood. Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, she shared that she didn’t try Botox until she was 60 and probably won’t continue. “I am scared of having to see myself looking like my grandmother one day, but I’m excited to play older roles,” she explained. Kudrow is currently promoting the third and final season of The Comeback.

It’s interesting to see a star like Lisa Kudrow reflect honestly on her career and the way she was perceived. Even though she sometimes felt sidelined, she turned Phoebe Buffay into a beloved character and made her mark on television history. What do you think about Kudrow’s take on her Friends experience? Share your thoughts in the comments.