Jennifer Aniston recently opened up about a lesser-known aspect of the Friends filming experience, shedding light on what her co-star Lisa Kudrow particularly disliked about the process. The revelation came during a special event where the cast and creators of the iconic sitcom shared behind-the-scenes stories and answered fan questions.
During the Tribeca TV Festival, co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, along with executive producer Kevin S. Bright, reminisced about the making of Friends. The event featured a screening of two classic episodes, “The One With the Embryos” and “The One Where Everybody Finds Out.” While David Schwimmer made a brief appearance, he left before the Q&A session began.
One of the most intriguing insights came from Kevin S. Bright, who revealed that Lisa Kudrow was not fond of filming scenes involving her character Phoebe’s twin sister, Ursula. The character of Ursula originally appeared on NBC’s Mad About You, where she was a quirky waitress. When Kudrow joined Friends, the creators decided to bring Ursula into the show as Phoebe’s twin.
Bright explained that Kudrow found it challenging to act alongside a double, which in this case was her real-life sister, Helena. “Lisa really did not have a good time doing them,” Bright said. “She did not like acting with a double, and in a way, she might have made it more difficult for herself because her double was her actual sister.”
He added that Kudrow felt the stress of putting her sister in that position, making those scenes particularly tricky to shoot. Despite the challenges, the final product turned out to be enjoyable for the audience.
The event also touched on other behind-the-scenes stories, including the challenges the Friends team faced with NBC’s standards and practices. Marta Kauffman recalled a memorable battle over a condom in an episode where Monica and Rachel argue over who gets to use the last one. “We could show the box, we could shake the box so you could hear the condom, but we couldn’t say condom,” she said.
David Crane added that the network’s censorship rules were inconsistent. “When we first started, you could say ‘penis,’ but then three years after we started, they decided that you couldn’t say ‘penis,'” he noted. The word “nipple” was also off-limits initially, but “penis” made a comeback in later seasons.
Another interesting tidbit was about the casting of Ugly Naked Guy, a character who made only two actual appearances on the show. Surprisingly, many people wanted to play the role, even though it involved no lines and was shot from the back. “Nobody had to disrobe. They just walked in the room, we said hi, very nicely,” Bright explained.
One of the most memorable moments from the episode “The One Where Everybody Finds Out” involved Matt LeBlanc’s Joey trying to undo Phoebe’s shirt. Kauffman recalled that it took several attempts before LeBlanc successfully pulled off the move. “It surprised Lisa so much the first time that she laughed out of character, so we had to do it again,” Bright added.
As for the beloved Central Perk manager Gunther, even the show’s creators are unsure about his last name. “Does he have a last name?” Crane wondered aloud, with Bright joking, “He’s like Cher.”
The event was a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes stories, but Jennifer Aniston’s revelation about Lisa Kudrow’s discomfort with filming twin scenes stood out. It added a new layer of understanding to the complexities and challenges the cast faced while creating one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time.
