It’s been more than 30 years since Lisa Kudrow delivered her final performance of “Smelly Cat” at Central Perk, but she says her time as Phoebe Buffay on “Friends” remains one of the most fulfilling chapters of her life.
And it's her time on the hit show that she says paved the way for a career she calls "lucky," "privileged" and "fortunate."
“I won a lottery being on ‘Friends,’” Kudrow tells TODAY.com during a sit-down interview.
Currently appearing in the Netflix series "No Good Deed," a dark comedy co-starring Ray Romano, Kudrow says that each stage of her career has had its place, but that her time on "Friends" was "everything."
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"Anything else I got to do was icing," she says.
Though the hit series ended its decadelong run in May 2004, the show continues to live on in the hearts of longtime viewers, as well as gain a new generation of young fans who find themselves irresistibly drawn into the lives of its quirky but beloved characters, Ross (David Schwimmer), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Monica (Courteney Cox), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Phoebe, played by Kudrow.
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After first premiering in 1994, the NBC sitcom would go on to earn six Primetime Emmys (including an outstanding supporting actress statue for Kudrow) and go down in history as one of the most popular TV shows of all time. The meteoric success and continued popularity of "Friends" are due in no small part to the chemistry of its six co-stars, something Kudrow says was genuine.
“We loved each other,” Kudrow says. “Going to work every day was heaven. It was too good to be true, but it really was.”
An Encino, California native, acting wasn’t initially on Kudrow’s radar. Instead, she attended Vassar, where she graduated with a biology degree and plans for a career in research before trying her hand at comedy. The risk paid off, and after a successful audition Kudrow earned a coveted spot in the Groundlings, a Los Angeles-based sketch comedy group.
Before long, she made the leap to television, nabbing a recurring role as a scatterbrained server named Ursula on the popular ‘90s sitcom “Mad About You" before landing “Friends.”
“All I ever wanted to do was be able to support myself as an actor. That was the goal,” she tells TODAY.com. She continues that the massive juggernaut that was “Friends” went “above and beyond” anything she’d ever hoped for.
“Not only that, but I was working with people that I loved,” says Kudrow of her time on the show.
Kudrow says that among the benefits of having been a part of one of the most celebrated sitcoms of all time is that “Friends” has afforded her the ability to pursue her own projects, including the mockumentary “The Comeback,” Showtime’s “Web Therapy” and the ancestry documentary she's produced, “Who Do You Think You Are?”
"Because I was on 'Friends,' I got to create my own shows that didn't have to be as big as 'Friends,' so I could do something like 'The Comeback' or 'Web Therapy,' and that was really fulfilling."
Filming 'No Good Deed' without an ending
In her new Netflix series, "No Good Deed," Kudrow stars as Lydia Morgan, a Los Angeles suburbanite who's selling her home in the aftermath of losing a son.
The dark comedy also stars Romano as Kudrow's husband, Paul, and Denis Leary as his recently paroled brother, along with a host of others, including Luke Wilson, Linda Cardellini and O-T Fagbenle, who portray property-hungry buyers willing to do anything to score the Morgans' prized Spanish-style mansion. All of them have something to hide, including Lydia and Paul.
"Their son is dead and it's a secret. What was their involvement in that?" says Kudrow, who explains that she was initially drawn to the role because she enjoys a mystery.
"I like when the information is teased in a way that makes sense, but definitely feels like, 'Oh, I know exactly what's going on here, but I need to know more.' And then you get more and maybe it's not that," she says. "It felt like a fun ride to me."
Part whodunit and part send-up of the LA scene, "No Good Deed" keeps viewers guessing about the hidden motives of all its characters right up until the very end. Even Kudrow and Romano were kept in the dark about the finale of "No Good Deed" until they were more than halfway through shooting the series.
"We didn't know," says Kudrow of the show's conclusion. That left it up to Romano to ask showrunner and creator Liz Feldman to reveal the ending.
"Around Episode Five, Ray went to Liz and just said, 'We're playing these people. The characters know exactly what happened, but we don't. So, don't you think we should know?'" explains Kudrow, saying that the request prompted Feldman to wrap up the final details of the ending before sending it over to her lead actors.
"And then it was a big surprise," she says of finally learning the outcome of "No Good Deed."
Will 'No Good Deed' return for Season 2?
After watching the finale, fans of the series may be wondering if there will be another season.
According to Kudrow, Season Two of "No Good Deed" has yet to be decided. "It's up to Netflix and Liz, what she wants to do with it next," says Kudrow. "If she thinks it's worth it and there's room for me and Ray, I'm not saying no. I loved everybody. Luke was so great. Linda was great."
As for what comes next, Kudrow says she wouldn't mind taking on a "slice-of-life" drama similar to "Scenes from a Marriage" or other dramatic role.
"Maybe a mystery," she says. "But that's not apocalyptic or overly tragic."
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