Lisa Kudrow has admitted that she is still haunted by the laughter of the studio audience while filming Friends, two decades after the series aired its final episode.
While appearing on the podcast Conan O’Brien needs a friendThe 60-year-old actress explained why she didn’t like the sound of the live audience laughing at her jokes.
“(It irritated me) because they laughed for so long. It wasn’t that funny,” he explained to O’Brien. “That’s why. It wasn’t an honest answer and it irritated me.”
She continued: “It’s like, ‘Now you’re ruining the flow of the rest of the show.’ Sometimes, if they’d been laughing for too long, I’d turn to them and say, ‘Come on.’ Really pissed off.”
The Emmy winner, who played Phoebe Buffay alongside Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry, went on to explain that her show was “not for a studio audience.”
Lisa Kudrow admitted that she is still haunted by the laughter of the studio audience, two decades after Friends aired its final episode
“It’s meant for the viewers at home. That’s who we serve,” she insisted. “If it was a play, yeah, laugh all you want! I’ll think of things to keep my character busy, waiting to get on with it, that’s fine. But of course, it’s being filmed and now I’m just kind of standing there.”
Kudrow said the noise made her do “things you hate,” like nodding her head as if to say, “That’s right! I said it!”
He went on to note that the show’s opening act would specifically advise the audience not to do “any of that.”
The mother of one, who is married to Michel Stern, said it would take “between six and eight hours” to film a half-hour episode of the beloved show.
This is the second time this month that Kudrow has spoken out about feeling frustrated by the live audience during her time on Friends, which aired from 1994 to 2004.
Earlier this month, he said: Entertainment Tonight that it ‘irritated’ them when ‘they (the studio audience) laughed for too long’.
“God bless them. They were so excited to be there that sometimes the laughter was longer than if they had laughed at anything else,” the Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion star said.
Lisa added: “I thought, ‘Okay, take it easy. It’s not that funny. And there’s more to say!'”
The Emmy winner played the beloved character, Phoebe Buffay, alongside Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green (right), Courteney Cox as Monica Geller (left), Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani and Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing.
Aniston recently revealed in an interview that Kudrow “hated it when the audience laughed” while filming Friends during her interview on Variety’s Actors on Actors.
The clarification comes after Aniston stated that Kudrow “hated it when the audience laughed” while filming Friends during her interview on Variety’s Actors on Actors.
She was like, “I’m not done! It’s not that funny!”
Kudrow recently revealed that she started re-watching episodes of Friends to keep the memory of her late co-star Matthew Perry alive.
She said watching the episodes allowed her to celebrate Perry, who died in October at age 54.
“I couldn’t really watch it because it’s too embarrassing to watch it yourself. But if I do it about Matthew, then that’s fine,” she told THR. “And it’s just a celebration of how funny he was, and that’s what I want to remember[about him].”
While appearing on the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast, the 60-year-old actress explained why she didn’t like the sound of the live audience laughing at her jokes.
Kudrow reflected on her days on set with Perry, who she said left her crying with laughter.
She said: ‘Basically, you laugh all day long, in between scenes, because these people are so funny. And especially someone like Matthew, whose goal was: How many laughs can I get in real life every day? So we were always laughing so hard that tears were rolling down our faces.’
The actor died of an overdose on October 28, 2023 in the hot tub of his home, according to an earlier report by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner.
His death was ruled accidental and the autopsy report released in May showed the actor died from the acute effects of ketamine.
Contributing factors were drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, a prescription drug often used to treat those suffering from opioid addiction.
Last month, Kudrow revealed she started re-watching episodes of Friends to keep the memory of her late co-star Matthew Perry alive, eight months after his tragic death at age 54.
The actor died of an overdose on October 28, 2023 in the jacuzzi of his home, according to an earlier report by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner; seen in November 2022
It was later reported that at the time of his death, Perry was receiving ketamine infusion therapy.
In December of last year, a medical expert speculated to Page Six that the actor had “likely” obtained ketamine illegally for “recreational use.”
Although Perry was receiving ketamine treatment for anxiety and depression at the time of his death, his autopsy report noted that “the ketamine in his system at the time of his death could not have been from that infusion therapy.”
Authorities now believe that “several people” should be charged.
When the Friends star died, the Los Angeles Police Department launched an investigation into the circumstances of her overdose.
Matthew Perry pictured in his hot tub in his last Facebook post before his death in October 2023
In a People report last month, a law enforcement investigative source said the investigation is now “reaching its conclusion.”
The source did not clarify who the “multiple individuals” potentially facing charges are, adding that any future action will ultimately be determined by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife Brooke Mueller has been interviewed “multiple times” by the Los Angeles Police Department in connection with Perry’s death after the pair reportedly bonded during their stays in rehab, a new report says.
Mueller was never arrested or handcuffed in connection with the investigations, sources said. In contact who has been cooperating with the criminal investigation.
“She has hired lawyers and had multiple meetings with law enforcement since they arrived at her halfway house with a search warrant. She hasn’t said anything about the situation,” a source told the magazine.