Lisa Kudrow admits it was 'hard work' to become close with her Friends costars

Lisa Kudrow admitted it was 'hard' for her Friends costars to become real-life friends.

The 61-year-old actress, who rose to fame for her portrayal of the eclectic Phoebe Buffay on the beloved sitcom, opened up about the relationship she had with her costars in the beginning of the show.

While chatting with Dax Shepard on his Armchair Expert podcast in an episode released on Monday, she said the 'six-way relationship took some work' and they 'worked hard at being friends.'

She noted that the result was the authentic chemistry between her and Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and the late Matthew Perry.

Her confession comes after she admitted she started rewatching Friends to keep the memory of Perry alive following his tragic death in October 2023.

She said that over the course of the TV series' 10 seasons, she and her costars became real-life friends.

For that reason, they had to make an effort to 'really talk things through' whenever they had any misunderstandings with each other. 

'If someone said something or did something, it didn't get too big because it was, "Can I talk to you?'" 

She said she struggled with the open communication style and explained it was 'usually not me' who would start the conversation first. 

'I had to learn to be like, "Can I talk to you about something?"' She said it was 'hard' because she wasn't familiar with honest and straightforward dialogue. 

She explained she 'never knew that was allowed' but she learned about 'respectful communication' from her costars. 

'I saw it modeled really well by Courteney and Jennifer and Matt,' she said. 

This comes months after she revealed she started rewatching Friends to keep the memory of her late costar Perry alive. 

Kudrow played alongside Perry's wisecracking character Chandler Bing in the iconic show from 1994 to 2004. 

Following his tragic death at the age of 54 in October 2023, she said she started watching episodes to celebrate her late costar and friend. 

'Honestly, I wasn't able to watch it because it's too embarrassing to watch yourself,' she told The Hollywood Reporter in June. 'But if I make it about Matthew, then that's OK.' 

She continued: 'And it's just celebrating how hilarious he was — and that is what I want to remember [about him].' 

She said the talent of her castmates blew her away, and she said of Perry: 'No one ever knew that cadence or comedic rhythm before him.' 

Kudrow also reflected on the days on set with Perry, who she said often left her crying with laughter. 

'You're just laughing all day long, basically, in between the scenes, because these are funny people,' she recalled. '

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, tears were flying out of our faces.'