Lisa Kudrow explains how ‘Friends’ cast worked on their real-life friendships

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — The cast of “Friends” is well known for being besties, but that developed over time.

During an appearance on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, “Friends” star Lisa Kudrow shared that the “six-way relationship” shared among cast members Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, the late Matthew Perry and Kudrow “took some work.”

The key, she said, was in their communication.

“If someone said something or did something, it didn’t get too big because it was, ‘Can I talk to you?’” Kudrow recalled, adding that she sometimes struggled with that type of open communication. “I had to learn to be like, ‘Can I talk to you about something?’”

The actress said she learned from some of the cast members who she felt were better at it than her.

“I saw it modeled really well by Courtney and Jennifer and Matt,” Kudrow said.

The hit NBC series ran for ten seasons from 1994 to 2004. During that time the cast became incredibly close, Kudrow said. They were devastated by the death of Perry in 2023 when he drowned at home following the acute effects of ketamine.

“We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” the surviving cast members said in a joint statement released after Perry’s death.

On the podcast, Kudrow, who has gone on to star in multiple projects, including her new Netflix series “No Good Deed,” said she doesn’t mind that people always want to talk to her about “Friends.”

“It’s a blessing,” she said. “I’m too grateful.”

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