Lisa Kudrow

Episode notes

(Photo: Rodin Eckenroth / Getty Images)

Lisa Kudrow’s big break was on the massively successful sitcom Friends. She portrayed the street-wise, but kind of clueless Phoebe Buffay. She’s one of Friends‘ most beloved characters.

Kudrow’s since gone on to balance that sweetness with darker themes. She earned an Emmy nomination in 2005 for her role in The Comeback – she played an actress more or less defined by her narcissism and received another nod for the same show in 2014. 

When we talked to Lisa in 2012 she had just wrapped the second season of a very funny show called Web Therapy. She played a therapist who conducts her sessions online – usually for no longer than 3 minutes. She’s also kind of a terrible person. You can watch that on Youtube.

These days you can catch her on the Netflix dramedy No Good Deed, alongside Linda Cardellini, Ray Romano and Abbi Jacobson.

Kudrow talks to us about her early career in science research, the cruelty of middle-schoolers that set her on the path to acting, and being mentored by Jon Lovitz.

A version of this interview originally aired in 2012.