Actor Lisa Kudrow has opened up about her life before playing the iconic role of Phoebe Buffay on one of the popular sitcoms worldwide- Friends. On The Howard Stern Show, the actress revealed that just days before landing the role of Phoebe Buffay she was fired from Frasier. Lisa Kudrow had joined Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox on the show.
The 57 years old actress was cast to play the role of Roz Doyle in Frasier but was fired few days into filming, in part because of director James Burrow. The role was later played by Peri Gilpin. “I wasn’t right for the part or the chemistry group. So that wasn’t working but I did think ‘Oh, I am no this guy’s cup of tea.”
After being fired from the show, she auditioned for the role of Phoebe Buffay and again had to audition for James. James has directed several episodes of Friends. She revealed that out of the six lead actors, she was the only one who had to go in and ‘audition for Jimmy’.
“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.” said Lisa.
She also revealed that initially, she didn’t feel connected to the rest of her castmates. “Shooting the pilot that week I was like, ‘All right, here we go.” “And Phoebe was not the character that was part of this group really, that easily. There was a struggle.”