Lisa Kudrow may have played Friends’ most memorable singer, but don’t expect her to break into “Smelly Cat” just because you asked.
The actress, who played the quirky Phoebe Buffay throughout the sitcom’s 10-season run, recently reflected on the show’s lasting popularity during an appearance on Fresh Air with Terry Gross & Tonya Mosley.
Kudrow made it clear she has “zero complaints about Friends or anything to do with it.” She still appreciates the cast, the fans and the memories — even when strangers call her Phoebe.
“Just the relationship with the other actors; we had fun,” Kudrow said. “That is so rare. And real honest respect, mutual respect.”
“It was a really good relationship that took some work, and we did the work,” she continued. “It was great.”
The cast even played poker together during downtime, making those long filming days a little more fun.
“Everything about it was great,” Kudrow emphasised.
But there is one Friendsrequest that immediately gets a hard pass.
“Sometimes people will stop me and say, ‘Oh, sing “Smelly Cat.”’ I don’t want to do that. I really don’t want to do that,” she said.
Fair enough. After all, Kudrow has been asked to channel Phoebe for decades.
Even Sandra Bullock once slipped up and called her by her character’s name.
“I was at a party, a big party, and I was talking to Sandra Bullock — name-dropping, I have to, but it’s true — and we were talking, and she was like, ‘Well, I guess you’ll just have to talk to yourself, Phoebe, about something,’ and she called me Phoebe!” Kudrow recalled.
“But she caught herself,” Kudrow continued with a laugh. “She went, ‘What did I just do?’ ”
2026-08-29 15:53:00
