Lisa Kudrow Reflects on Her "Lucky" Career, From Friends to Her New Netflix Role

Lisa Kudrow feels "lucky" to have been part of the iconic TV show Friends. In a recent interview with Today.com, the 61-year-old actress shared how the beloved NBC sitcom, which aired from 1994 to 2004, shaped her career and brought lifelong memories.

Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay, said the show’s success was fueled by the strong bond among the cast members, including David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc.

“We loved each other,” Kudrow said. “Going to work every day was heaven. It was too good to be true, but it really was.”

Over its 10 seasons, Friends won six Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Kudrow as Outstanding Supporting Actress in 1998. Even decades later, the show remains popular with new fans watching reruns and streaming it online. For Kudrow, Friends was “the role of a lifetime.”

“I won a lottery being on Friends,” she said. “Anything else I got to do was icing.”

The success of Friends also gave Kudrow the chance to work on personal projects. She created and starred in shows like Web Therapy and The Comeback, as well as producing the ancestry series Who Do You Think You Are?

“Because I was on Friends, I got to create my own shows,” she said. “That was really fulfilling.”

Now, Kudrow stars in Netflix’s dark comedy series No Good Deed, alongside Everybody Loves Raymond star Ray Romano. The show follows three families competing to buy the same house, believing it will solve their problems.

Kudrow and Romano, who play a married couple in the series, said they connected instantly on set. “You get lucky, and sometimes you just have that chemistry,” Romano said. Kudrow added, “I’d always wanted to work with Ray, and it felt like a dream come true.”

No Good Deed is now streaming on Netflix, adding another exciting chapter to Kudrow’s career.