Lisa Kudrow realized that Phoebe was not the fan favorite among the Friends characters.
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As reported by Page Six, the actress said in an interview that "nobody cared about me. There were certain parts of [my talent agency] that just referred to me as 'the sixth Friend.'"
Lisa Kudrow Won an Emmy for "Friends"
Many remember Phoebe from Friends as the "ditzy" one. She would say goofy things and go busking on the street, performing songs like "Smelly Cat." Despite these quirks, the character left a lasting impression. Phoebe became one of the show's most endearing aspects. Kudrow won an Emmy award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1998.
Despite the prestigious honor and the popularity of Friends, which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004, some didn't think the actress would last long in Hollywood.
"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.'"
The Actress Insists That Phoebe Was Not a "Ditz"
While Friends was on the air, Kudrow often took movie roles that were as far away from Phoebe as she could. This approach allowed her to demonstrate how different she was from her character.
"At first, Phoebe was very, very far from me," she shared. "It took a lot of work to justify the things she would say and do. Not in an irritating way — it was fun."
She added, "Over the course of 10 years, a little bit of her came into me. I lightened up a little more and read some books on spirituality and things, just to try to understand her."
Yet that hasn't stopped people from perceiving Phoebe as "ditzy."
"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. "In 1994, it was like, 'I love her. She's such a ditz.' And it's like, yeah, okay, that was what a ditz was to us. Someone who wasn't toeing the line."
