Highlights
- Lisa Kudrow had to audition for her role as Phoebe Buffay on Friends twice, unlike her fellow cast members who only auditioned once.
- Kudrow initially felt nervous when filming the pilot episode of Friends, as she believed the director, Jim Burrows, had something against her.
- Kudrow was fired from the show Frasier before landing her role on Friends, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as she became massively famous for playing Phoebe Buffay.
While casting for Friends, one of the main cast members had to go through a "special audition" to ensure she was right for her character. While the other main cast members only had to audition once for their parts, Lisa Kudrow had to audition twice in order to secure the role of Phoebe Buffay. The star was also initially nervous when filming the pilot episode, feeling she was being sabotaged.
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Let's call this... "The One Where We Got Old," as AI-generated art transforms the Friends characters into elderly seniors.Friends has remained a hugely popular show since it aired in 1994, partly because of the incredible cast members on the show. However, one of them had to audition again, even after she'd been cast. Lisa Kudrow, who had previously been fired from Frasier, had to go through a slightly more extensive audition process than her fellow co-stars, although she didn't know it at first.
Lisa Kudrow Was The Only Cast Member On 'Friends' Who Had To Do A "Special Audition"
While Friends was being cast, some actors were already being considered for certain characters. For example, Matthew Perry had been the number one choice to portray Chandler. Although Courteney Cox was offered the role of Rachel Green, she turned it down, feeling she would be a better fit as Monica Geller.
Jennifer Aniston was cast as Rachel Green. David Schwimmer (Ross Geller), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani) and Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay) made up the rest of Friends' main cast.
Out of all the cast members, only Lisa Kudrow, had to do an extra audition for her role. Kudrow revealed, "I had to do a special audition for Jim Burrows."
She added, "You have to do auditions for producers and studio, network but in between all of that, I had to go in and read for Jim Burrows. And I thought, 'Well, maybe everyone has to read for Jim Burrows.' I found out, no, I was the only one who had to read for him."
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Matt LeBlanc has had quite a journey in Hollywood since Friends wrapped, and it's resulted in an impressive net worth.After learning that Burrows was also directing the pilot episode, it seems Kudrow was worried that Jim Burrows had something against her.
Remembering how she felt "defeated" when they started filming the pilot episode of Friends, Kudrow said, "[On the set for the pilot] I said 'ugh, f****** Jimmy Burrows is directing this. It was more like in defeat than anger.'"
The Easy A actor revealed on the Jess Cagle Podcast with Julia Cunningham, "We were getting ready to do a run-through and I have to do my Phoebe monologue and he's like 'Lisa, sit under the table to read the monologue, do it under the table, she's out there.'"
Although Kudrow disagreed with Burrows' directions, she got under the table. Recalling how she felt about shooting the scene that way, Kudrow said, "I just went, 'My God, I can't connect with anyone. If you need to demonstrate how much my character doesn't belong with these people...' which I knew was something they were sort of concerned about."
The Comeback actor added, "I did the best I could and then after the run-through, David Crane [Friends co-creator] says, 'Lisa, it's fun that you're under the table' - as if it was my idea - 'But I'm not sure that it works.'"
Kudrow agreed, but also felt she'd been given bad directions. "I just went 'OK, yeah.'" However, she soon learned she could trust Burrows as a director.
She recalled, "Jimmy said, 'No, that was my idea.'" Kudrow said "then she knew she could trust him."
The reason she was initially nervous about working with Burrows, was because he'd previously fired her from Frasier.
Prior To Friends, Lisa Kudrow Was Fired From Frasier
Before finding huge success as Phoebe Buffay on Friends, Lisa Kudrow had been cast on another hit series: Frasier. However, after determining that Kudrow had been "mistakenly cast" in the role on Frasier, she was fired from the show.
After being hired to play Roz Doyle, Kudrow was fired by Jim Burrows after she'd filmed Frasier's pilot episode. Kudrow said, "I was...mistakenly cast. I didn't know that at the time."
The Hanging Up actor said, "I knew that Jim (Burrows) clocked that I was wrong from the table read and so I thought, 'Oh he doesn't like me or what I do.'"
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Lisa Kudrow might not remember her time on Friends very well, but her co-stars (and the audience) remember the many outtakes of Phoebe Buffay.Although the actor was fired from Frasier, it turned out well for Kudrow, as she went on to become massively famous for playing Phoebe Buffay on the beloved sitcom Friends.
Before Kudrow landed her role on Friends, she first had to do a "special audition", to make certain she was right for the role. Kudrow was the only cast member on the series who had to do such an audition for her character.
Lisa Kudrow Found Out Later She Was The Only Cast Member Who Had An Extra Audition
It's hard to imagine anyone other than Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay on Friends, however, she had to do an extra audition for her part. Kudrow was likely surprised when she discovered she was the only actor who'd had to do a "special audition".
Kudrow assumed her fellow Friends co-stars had gone through the same two-part audition process she had, only to find out years later she had been the only cast member who'd had to audition twice.
Appearing on the Today Show, Kudrow revealed, "I didn't even realize until recently [that] I had a special audition for Jim Burrows because he was directing it. I assumed all the actors did. And then I found out - like, I don't know, four year ago - I was the only one."
She later learned she'd been the only cast member who'd had to do this "just to make sure it was all ok with Jimmy that I played Phoebe," Kudrow said.
For her role on Friends, Kudrow was nominated for six Emmy Awards, winning once.
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