In the latest Conan O’ Brien Needs a Friend podcast, Conan sits down to chat with Lisa Kudrow, or as most of us are more familiar with Pheobe from Friends.
If you haven’t listened to any of Conan’s podcasts before, the Conan O’ Brien needs a friend podcast is where Conan “uses the podcast format selfishly to make friends”. On the episode aired on Sunday, Conan spoke to the Friends star and “dear” friend Lisa Kudrow. They reminisce on how long they have known each other, having first met at an improv class in 1986. The pair even dated at one point but found they were better as friends.
What’s really interesting about this podcast is the chat about their rise to fame. Before Friends became the biggest hit sitcom of the 90s and transformed these six actors into household names, they were all relatively unknown struggling actors. When discussing how each of the cast reacted to the show becoming one of the biggest cultural phenomenons of our generation, Lisa and Conan start to discuss Matt LeBlanc’s reaction and laid back attitude towards the success.
Conan recalls a hilarious story of sitting beside Matt LeBlanc at Lisa Kudrow’s wedding just after season one of Friends was released. It was at this point that the series was starting to do really well. Conan said that the rest of the cast were aware of how big the show was, all except Matt LeBlanc. When discussing the success of the show with Matt LeBlanc, Matt’s reaction is priceless. In spite of all the success, Matt seemed oblivious saying “I don’t know we might get another season”. It was at this point Conan informed Matt that the viewing figures for the show were the highest ever seen and they would definitely be getting a second season. Matt simply replied “That would be nice” and asked for the bread rolls. At this point, Matthew Perry intervened to inform Matt Le Blanc that Conan is right and the show is a hit, which will definitely be renewed for a second season. Matt LeBlanc hilariously responded “That’s nice. Great the bread rolls are here”
via GIPHY
When speaking about her own reaction when Friends exploded, unlike her character Pheobe, Lisa Kudrow recalls that part of her personality is to think about the worst scenario. She found even at the peak in success, she stayed grounded by thinking the worst case. Lisa also recalls a point when they were overexposed and there was backlash to the show. It was at this point the stars met with the producers of the show and said they needed to focus at the task at hand, the show. In the podcast Lisa Kudrow say that Jennifer Aniston shared her view to veer on the side of caution as they felt they were having too much good look.
You can listen to the full podcast here:
