Lisa Kudrow reveals she gave 'special audition' to play Phoebe in 'Friends', here's why

Hollywood actor Lisa Kudrow is well known for her work in the hit sitcom Friends, in which she took on the role quirky role of Phoebe Buffay. Years after the show has come to an end, the actor revealed that her process of bagging the role was a little different from that of her co-stars. She recently appeared on the Jess Cagle Podcast with Julia Cunnigham and spoke about her experience as she revealed she gave a 'special audition' before she bagged the much-loved role.

Lisa Kudrow on her audition process for Friends 

The actor mentioned that she had to audition for the director Jim Burrows twice to bag her role as Phoebe Buffay in Friends. This is because she was earlier fired from his other show Frasier, in which she was 'mistakenly cast'. She then went on to speak about the table read for Friends and said, "I knew that Jim clocked that I was wrong from the table read and so I thought, 'Oh he doesn't like me or what I do'." The actor had to audition for the director of the show to make sure he was 'okay' with her playing the character.

She then mentioned that she had to do a 'special audition' for the director and assumed her co-stars did the same as well. It was only a few years ago that she learnt that she was the only cast member who had to do so. She said, "So then we're doing Friends and I had to do a special audition for Jim Burrows. You have to do auditions for producers and studio, network but in between all of that, I had to go in and read for Jim Burrows. I thought maybe everyone had to do it but I found out a few years ago that I was the only one. Just to make sure that it was all ok with Jimmy that I played Phoebe."

More about Friends

The hit sitcom Friends ran from 1994 to 2004 and holds its popularity even today. It revolved around the lives of six friends in New York City, who were played by Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston. Lisa Kudrow has also won an Emmy Award for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series category.