For Lisa Kudrow and the other stars of Friends, that’s the TV role they’ll always be remembered for, regardless of the other work they’ve gone on to do. Ask them about it, though, and they’ll mostly tell you they’re OK with that. Friends, after all, is what skyrocketed them to fame and allowed them so many other opportunities (not to mention how it continues to make them millions every year). Kudrow says call her “Phoebe” all you want, but there’s one fan request she simply won’t do.
Lisa Kudrow has a lot of love for Phoebe Buffay, the character she played on Friends for 10 seasons (she also played Phoebe’s twin sister Ursula, who appeared on Friends and Mad About You). She even cried at how happy Phoebe was when her character married Mike (Paul Rudd) late in the series. So when she was asked on NPR’s Fresh Air about her relationship with the show, she had glowing things to say:
My first response is always I have zero complaints about Friends or anything to do with it, because every part of it was — just the relationship with the other actors; we had fun. That is so rare. And real honest respect, mutual respect. It was a really good relationship that took some work, and we did the work, you know? It was great.
Lisa Kudrow said she, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer intentionally fostered real friendships by eating lunch together every day and hanging out on set. She continued:
I mean, we made sure we [spent time together]. We played poker together while we’re waiting for the run-through or, you know, [during] any downtime. We spent that time together. Everything about it was great.
If you can sense a “but” coming in Lisa Kudrow’s response, your instincts are on point, because it turns out that no matter how much she cherishes those memories and relationships, and the way Friends changed her life, she draws the line at one request:
But sometimes people will stop me and say, ‘Oh, sing “Smelly Cat.”’ I don’t want to do that. I really don’t want to do that.
That is completely understandable, and I think Lisa Kudrow might want to look into how Bryan Cranston trolls Breaking Bad fans who ask him to recite a famous Walter White line.
There have been a few fans — celebrity fans, I should say — who have been lucky enough to hear a post-Friends Lisa Kudrow sing Phoebe’s most famous song. The actress once joined Taylor Swift on stage for a “Smelly Cat” duet (I can’t decide who I’m more jealous of!), and Lady Gaga sang the kitty ditty with her on Friends: The Reunion back in 2021.
Friends still means so much to so many people, including me (I watch it with my HBO Max subscription every night to go to sleep). But hopefully fans can help Lisa Kudrow keep all the positivity she associates with the sitcom by respecting her boundaries when it comes to “Smelly Cat.”
