Pop Culture

Lisa Kudrow Says She Wasn’t 'Adorable' Enough for Rom-Coms During ‘Friends’ Era

She also recalled being labeled the 'sixth Friend' and underestimated by her own team during the show's peak.

Lisa Kudrow smiling.
Lisa Kudrow smiling.
Diego Donamaria/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images

Lisa Kudrow says Hollywood agents considered putting her in romantic comedy roles following her success on the NBC sitcom, Friends. But according to Kudrow, she didn’t meet the criteria necessary to star as a leading lady in this particular genre of film.

While speaking to The Independent on April 4, she said, “The agents and business people started circling, wanting to put me in romantic comedies and things.” But according to the 62-year-old actress, she had a feeling it wouldn’t pan out because of her appearance. “I knew that wasn’t gonna work,” she continued. “I’m just not adorable!”

Furthermore, Kudrow says that while starring on Friends, she was often underestimated by her talent agency and made to feel like the “sixth friend” rather than a central part of the show. “Nobody cared about me,” she revealed in the interview. “There were certain parts of [my talent agency] that just referred to me as ‘the sixth friend.’”

Despite the lack of confidence from agents when it came to Kudrow’s role on the popular sitcom, fans of the series were quick to defend her part on Friends, claiming she was the most favored of the bunch.

“She was the best, the funniest one,” one commenter wrote on Instagram.

“I liked her the most,” said another.

“Sis carried the franchise tho,” a commenter chimed in.

Additionally, the actress says talent agents were under the impression that her career would not amount to much while starring on the NBC sitcom, and that she was just “lucky” to snag a spot on the show. Kudrow was quick to prove them wrong, considering she was the first of the core “friends” to win an Emmy.

The sitcom icon won an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series award in 1998 for playing Phoebe Buffay on the hit NBC show.

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