Lisa Kudrow opens up about how she was fired from Frasier prior to landing career-defining role on Friends
Friends star Lisa Kudrow opened up about how her firing from Frasier paved the way toward Friends fame.
The 57-year-old actress, appearing Wednesday on The Howard Stern Show, opened up about how what seemed to be a bad break in her career ultimately opened the door for her to play Phoebe Buffay on the NBC staple.
Kudrow was initially cast to play the role of Roz Doyle on the Cheers spin-off in 1993, but was let go three days into production of the pilot episode. (Peri Gilpin went on to play the part on the Kelsey Grammer series.)
The latest: Friends star Lisa Kudrow, 57, opened up about how her firing from Frasier paved the way toward Friends fame, speaking with Howard Stern Wednesday. She was snapped in LA in 2019
'I wasn’t right for the part [or] for the chemistry of the group,' Kudrow said. 'So that wasn’t working but I did think, "Oh, I am not this guy’s cup of tea."'
Kudrow said she'd been let go from Frazier after working with veteran director James Burrow, who she also had to audition for, for the role on Friends.
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Kudrow said that she was 'the only one of the six of us' - referring to castmates Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer - 'who had to go in and audition for' Burrow.
She continued: 'I had one extra audition just for James Burrows. I did it and he went, "No notes." I left going, "That either means she’s beyond help and helpless, just like I always knew," or "Yeah, it’s perfect. I have no notes."'
Kudrow and James Burrows were snapped at a TV tribute to the veteran director also attended by Friends stars Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox
Details: Kudrow said she'd been let go from Frazier after working with veteran director James Burrow, who she had to audition for, for the role on Friends
Kudrow said she was cast on the NBC comedy, but at first found it hard to find the proper chemistry with her co-stars.
'Shooting the pilot that week I was like, "All right, here we go,"' she said. 'And Phoebe was not the character that was part of this group really, that easily. There was a struggle.'
Kudrow said that Burrows 'wasn't wrong about' keeping her off Frazier, which went on to run from 1993 until 2004 with a cast that also included Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce and the late John Mahoney.
Kudrow previously opened up about her experience working with Burrows in the early goings on Friends in a 2012 chat with Vanity Fair, claiming she 'was terrified that first week' on the show.
Kudrow said she at first found it hard to find the proper chemistry with her co-stars on the NBC comedy, which would go on to become one of the era's defining shows
She told the outlet: 'He would say, "Why are they friends with her?" Meaning [Phoebe]. We have to figure that out. She doesn't fit. And I was like, "Oh, my God. Here we go again. Well, if everyone just acts like they like me ..."
'And at one point he thought it would be funny if I deliver my monologue under the table. They’re all sitting around the table. Instead of being with them, I’m under the table, because I’m "quirky."'
She said that she felt at the time that the show's creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane were going to let her go thinking the character didn't work and was 'just not part of the group.
'And I really thought that was going to be what came out of that run-through. And, thank God, they said, "Um, Lisa, not that it’s a bad choice, but I don’t think that’s a good spot for you, under the table." I didn’t know how to answer. I would never put myself under the table. Jimmy said, "No, that was me. We were just trying it."'
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