Lisa Kudrow Hated Filming Friends in Public: “It Wasn't That Funny!”

“They were laughing for so long… it irritated me.”

A few days ago, Lisa Kudrow revealed that he had finally managed to get started in a rewatch of Friendsin memory of Matthew Perry, the actor who played Chandler, who died at just 54 years old. Explaining that she had never wanted to watch the hit series again before, of which she was one of the stars, she said she had laughed a lot when she rediscovered the show as a spectator.

As the sitcom celebrates its 30th anniversary, she says today on Conan O'Brien's podcast that she didn't always enjoy filming scenes in public. Which nevertheless represented the majority of the shots in Friendsa show that was rarely filmed outdoors: most of the jokes were filmed in the studio, in front of an audience reacting live to the jokes. Which sometimes irritated the actress who played Phoebe Buffay.

“They laughed for so long… when it wasn't that funny, she remembers. That's why I was able to react like that. It wasn't a proportionate reaction, and that's what irritated me. I felt like it was ruining the rhythm of the show. There were other lines afterward. Sometimes I would look up when they were laughing too long and say: 'Finally !' in a very angry way.”

“A TV show is not made for the studio audience, it is made for the viewers, so that they can watch it from home, she continues. That's our service. If it was a play, then, okay, laugh as much as you want. I could adapt, find things for my character to do during the laughter. That's fine. But when you're filming, it's different. I find myself stuck there… shaking my head at the reactions: 'Yeah, okay, I said that.' It's a terrible feeling. I think over time, they've asked the audience to not react as much.”

Lisa Kudrow adds that filming an episode of less than half an hour required between six and eight hours of shooting. Which also explains her personal weariness… and that of the public.

“We did so many takes that sometimes they wouldn't laugh at all after a while, recalls the actress. So the writers thought it didn't work and tried to rewrite their jokes. But it had worked in the beginning! I thought they could have taken the laughter recorded in the first take and put it in the scene that was ultimately kept. Seriously, who suffers from not hearing the laughter? I'm fine if they don't laugh as hard. We can continue.”

The full interview with Lisa Kudrow can be found below in video, in English. As for Friendsit is no longer visible in France on Netflix, but on Max, the Warner Bros. platform.

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