Lisa Kudrow | The Cambridge Union

well I think it's quite clear from that that our guest tonight needs absolutely no introduction and but please on some or just welcome Emmy award-winning actress Lisa Kudrow here thank you I want to start by asking you of course about friends which for many of us as children of the 90s we grew up with it we saw it constantly and we learned a lot about what life was like for people who were a few years older than us and that's kind of where we got the message and for you when was the moment when you realized how big it was um it was after the first season and we were all invited to be on Oprah which should have been our first clue but and we were really excited about that but while we were on her show she showed this little package they put together of people at internet cafes hmm that were going online and chatting about the show and talking about the show and then people talking about having friends parties where everyone gets together to watch the show every Thursday night and we all sat there like huh and she turned around and went you all up did you not know this was going on we went uh uh we didn't we don't have a clue and how big an impact did that have in your life all of a sudden you had this instant fame for hundreds of millions of years I think the first well the first time I remember feeling that was not long after that moment then we go back to LA and we have to do a photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly I think it was and as the six of us are walking out of the photo shoot going to the the parking lot there's countless paparazzi and it's nighttime so it's all you know the flashes going off and it was so terrifying it was really scary because you know they scream your name you know you've all seen it now you know they're like you always thought before that it would you'd be bathed in love you know when you're when you're famous and that'll just be so nice like a warm hug and and instead it was like David Lisa like screaming at you like you're doing something wrong and everything comes out like a reprimand because you're not looking at their lens and yeah that was really alarming for all of us and not knowing like I get to my card oh yeah how long's this gonna last it you know so that was the first that was the first time and did that change a lot for you once the show had finished airing new episodes did the land of Fame affect that tool yeah gradually went away for me what anyway but um you know it wasn't as bad for me I got married right after the first season also and you know my husband's not an actor so there was no intrigue about you know what actor is she gonna be dating and who's she with now so whew you know I want to talk a bit about one of your latest projects we web therapy which went on hasn't seen it you should it's fantastic and it's all about your playing this narcissistic therapist you're doing these three-minute interviews because you know you want to cut through the class sessions of therapy sessions do you call them therapy interviews here that might be me and you couldn't be playing a more different character from Phoebe and right and it's all about the self-involved person how was it acting in that way oh it's so fun hmm because I mean every mean thought that you know you try to put away as a decent human being you can just let it out because she's awful it's really fun and that started off online and then a few years ago they turn that into a fully-fledged TV show is it worse yes sort of I'm it's still new media it's still a web series you know each session with a different guest star is like you know between three five seven sometimes 14 minutes long and then when Showtime which is you know a pay cable premium cable network you know that they license it so it's a ready-made for a Showtime we just reformat it into a half-hour mm-hmm show but I mean the fun and the fun part about web therapy I have to say is well first of all it's improvised and second of all the guest stars we get are really it's very exciting to get to work I think like to me the biggest deal is Meryl Streep did it so that was really and to improvise with Meryl Streep that was really fun and do you think there's a big future in that kind of TV through social media and through new forms that reach out in different ways what we'll see I mean I think um I think in a way I don't know there's a lot of layers to that for me because it's sort of like the the Wild West you know the what's going on in the internet not so much for younger people there's a lot of shows and and youtubers you know then get millions of viewers but I think for like slightly older audiences it's not happening on the internet as much so you know we did that and we're you know ancient to be on the Internet but I think for for networks it's kind of a nice way to see you know what works hmm on yeah like what a show is gonna be and they don't have to spend millions of dollars to shoot it first so that's not happy news for TV writers and you know people developing TV shows but for you know the creative people it's fantastic that you don't have to I could never have pitched as a TV show well it's just me and someone else and it's on it plays on computer screens only isn't that hilarious yeah you know they don't do anything they're just talking it's really great you know you can't sell that you can't it's not possible and have you find the experience in terms of really spearheading your own project there oh it's I mean that's great you know I started a production company to do exactly that you know and when I saw their friends was winding down so around 2003 I started a production company with um dan Bukit insky who's my partner and he's actually he's an actor and a writer and a producer in fact now he's on I don't know if you guys get scandal yet right that's a phenomenal show it's really fun very thrilling well Dan's on that so you can see him on that and on web therapy except you don't get it here but anyway so we saw our own production company because I knew that if I did another TV show I'd want to have some creative input and that I wanted to actually have something beyond just you know a vanity deal they're called vanity deals we you know if you're an actor on a show you can get a production deal at the studio you're at but I wanted to really know what I was doing you know it's producing and all of that so I actually did do a series after friends that was on HBO called the comeback that I you know created and I was involved in the writing and producing and and it was a great show it just it didn't get picked up but it was a great show and in terms of you've made the move into the creative area but you started off as a pre-med at college right and I'm wondering how you made the transition from female interacting and they couldn't be more different Tamara I made the transition abruptly um in my head so I've graduated from college and then you know I had always as a child wanted to be an actor and then I put all that away for high school and college and because I decided that that's like not respectable that wasn't you know respectable goal and anyway um but after I graduated I realized that I was worried that I would have regrets if I hadn't tried at least and I really didn't want to have regrets so I just reasoned you know like I'm only 22 I don't have more get a mortgage I don't have you know a family I have no responsibilities this is actually the time to pursue something like this and then we'll see what happens and I just kept going and I just kept in my you know alternate-reality heard nothing but encouragement even with you know some of the negative feedback I turned it into well that's for now I don't know you know which is necessary to I mean I think you have to be a little deluded and how will your parents when you told them about that thank God maybe she'll lighten up and find a husband I think I think that that's what they thought what but they were really supportive i whatever reasons I don't care because I they were supportive and would you give the advice twenty aspiring actors here and I'm sure there are lots to go into that today just look how tough it is still well yeah it's always been tough I mean I think any artistic endeavor it's gonna be tough because you don't know you know if you're gonna be able to pay the rent or you know it's hard to go it's hard to go into any artistic endeavor if you're expecting you know some high dividends you know bless you myself and five other actors won the lottery with friends so that doesn't happen a lot but it's possible to make a living an away from acting into presenting you really spearheaded in the u.s. who do you think you are oh right and the whole journey you've brought people on till show looking at the genealogy and I know as part of that you also looked at your own quite a lot right I did yeah I did the first episode was shot for the u.s. series right that was a good thing that I went first because we learned a lot about what it takes to produce that show yeah it was a good thing I did the first one how did you find that experience under looking at your own life rather than acting as a character well that whew it was hard it was really hard it I think that shows really emotionally challenging to do anyway I mean yeah and and with my story you know I have did it because at first I wasn't gonna do it at all and Alex Graham you know who created the series here you know he just drew me in aside from you know the reasonable argument of look you're producing the show and you're probably going to be out promoting the show you should do an episode if you're asking these other people to do it you should do it too no one said that which would have been easy instead he said you know we've been looking into uh your grandfather your father's father was from Mogilev Russia at what oh my god so well I guess I could do it okay and so I wasn't sure what they were gonna look at and it turns out they were looking at like the Holocaust story for my paternal great-grandmother and you know what happened there and I really never wanted to exploit I didn't think I could ever handle it because you know at a very young age I had learned about the Holocaust from my father and he told me a lot he had me watch world at war and there's a big chunk on the Holocaust in that and I saw you know things that were just too disturbing for I was too young too I think um I don't know I just never really wanted to know too much and I think I could handle it so but there we were and we did it anyway and I could handle it and it was hard but I realized there was something bigger than just my discomfort over how they were slaughtered so and did that have an impact on your life after that once you've gone through that process um yes but not in an immediate way well yes there was it's such a I think that show is so layered that's what I love about it and you know so yes the you know what happened from that show there are many layers to you know how I was altered from it you know ranging from no no I'm still the same person because it's still difficult and and and tough to process but we also met a cousin who part of the other part of the story was that there was a cousin that my father met 1947 who was trying to pass himself off we thought as a you know polish not Jewish and he found the family and was going back to Poland and they were trying to keep him in New York and he wouldn't stay and they never heard from him again and had heard that he was killed because their Jews were being killed after you know World War two in Poland so the next part of the journey was going to Poland to find out what happened to him so what did happen to him and what I found out was that he was alive and I met him and his son and his grandson and he was fine and my father got to Skype with him and his grandson has stayed in our lives he's visited and he's wonderful so yeah that was incredible story huh one incredible story it was an incredible story and then so that's sort of the thing to me the biggest thing that happened because of that shooting that episode was I really always thought like right so this is a plant it that part hasn't changed but you know the night before when I was in Poland and you know I got off the plane and put in a car really nice person driving me and drove me to the hotel and she said oh this is a very nice hotel mr. Hitler stayed here and I had never heard anyone ever say mr. Hitler so I was like oh my god where am I I thought I was so happy to be in Poland after being in Belarus and and so I'm at this hotel where mr. Hitler stayed and just it was all kind of you know depressing and you know like the ultimate of tragedy and horror and thought so tomorrow I'm gonna go find out how this bolas law died or was killed or not find out because who's gonna say I killed him or here it's written down how he was killed in an anti-semitic rage or you know and I just I thought so I won't get to know oh well and then I don't know what why but all of a sudden I just thought would it just be nice if he just got married and had a kid and nothing happened to him like nothing at all ever happened to him again wouldn't that be really nice and everything I just felt finally my heart started slowing down and I felt calm and then it's as if I like drifted upward and was thinking I would be so great and then just went but that's not this planet and you came right back into the stress and tomorrow but then that's exactly what happened so in to me the big deal was that no sometimes you know you can be optimistic and sometimes it's okay to like dream about something being easy and sometimes that does happen you know it's not always really grim I can see a lot of people bursting with questions okay I think that point will open it up so if you could just raise your hand if you're not asked question and wait from microphone so you can capture it on the recording we'll start over there just behind the guy waving sorry hi my name is Malika and I just wanted to request if you could sing smelly cat you can request it yeah I'll do it why not my son is here and he's dying a horror right now and alright I don't have my guitar so I might pretend alright um I don't know all of it just the part that you probably know tart smelly cat smelly cat what are they feeding you smelly cat smelly cat it's not your paw I had a bet with someone about how long it would take for you to be asked that but oh that faster than I thought let's take another question over there going hi Phoebe oh I mean this cooker sorry ok half in real yep in real life are you a vegetarian like Phoebe no ok so um so what's your view on vegetarianism like when you are in the show and in ripp and in real life what's your view on that you can tell the vegetarians you can tell them where we had lunch right you can tell them where we had lunch just now oh yeah but well I just had lunch at the like chopped steak meat that was great but my view on vegetarianism no I mean I think it's very personal you know everyone's dietary restrictions and values so I don't judge let's take another question over that that's microwave I was wondering what you think happened to Phoebe after friends and did oh yeah well personally I think Phoebe ended up being like a soccer mom I mean I think she probably got as regular as I did after friend let's go over that chick just wait for the mic so there are few people in overflow rooms hi Lisa I just wanted to ask aside from Phoebe who would you say was your favorite character on the show and outside in the real world if you like and it's are there any particular members of the cast who you're still very close to oh well let's see it depends on the episode I'm watching and we all used to it's true or whatever week we were shooting you know one of us for a while you know we did this thing first few years we'd say okay you're my favorite character this week you know um so at some point it was each of the five of them but not myself oddly so but now I thought everyone was hilarious you know Monica made me laugh a lot you know especially well fat Monica because it's so fun to see Courtney just let loose like that this like astonishingly beautiful woman who's just you know come on let's go you know that always seems so funny to me and are you still in touch with the cast oh yes uh-huh yeah yeah let's get over there thank you hi Lisa hi hi thanks for the smelly cancel I wanted to ask but I was scared so I'm glad someone did it oh I just wanted to know sort of throughout the show how much of the stuff you guys said was like ad-libbed and how much was scripted did you how did it all kind of work it was scripted it was all scripted we had phenomenal writers who in my opinion should have been nominated and winning awards every year it was incredibly hard show to write um during rehearsals we could pitch jokes you know that we would come up with and the writers were always you know really generous about hearing them as long as we performed their writing first and um and sometimes stuff would get in yeah let's go over that hi you're waiting the Maya thing I can't do a thing till you get the mic hi um the actors like reflect the characters that they portray because I think what makes it show so appealing is how naturally the actors seem to portray the characters oh I'm trying to think who was exactly like their character none of us I don't know if that's disappointing or fantastic but I mean the truth is I you know when we were auditioning I was the second person to be cast and as they were about to cast me I went you know I'm actually more Jappy than this person called Phoebe so maybe Rachel I wasn't even aware that Rachel was like you know the female lead or you know like the romantic interest I was just like well she's a [ __ ] and I'm a jab jab Jewish American princess you know so aren't I more like Rachel and they're like no we found a Phoebe so just shut up you know and and Jennifer was actually a little more open and you know I don't know she was a little more spiritual than I was so I actually learned a lot from her am i I'm thinking that it before you accost us Phoebe you accost as Ursula I set foot shape right right how they decided on that transition immediately was at your suggestion they're two separate shows two separate studios but on the same network and mad about you was that other show starring Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser so I did a guest star appearance on that show and um actually I don't even know if it was a guest star it was just a character called waitress didn't even have a name and they called me that morning and my agent actually said don't do it because it does character doesn't have a name it's just a couple of lines and they won't tell us what you know the script is we can't see that they just want you there in an hour you're not going to do this and I went yeah I am I'm not in a position to say no to anything and I just drove down there a little nervous and I'm just going to do it and by the end of the week that producer named Danny Jacobson said you're really funny would it be all right with you if you did like five more of these and I was like oh my god I was just about to get a day job yes that would be great and then one of the writers on Mad About You is named Jeffrey klarik and Jeffrey clerics boyfriend is David Crane who was working on a pilot with his writing partner Marta Kauffman which was friends so they had me come David because of Jeffrey knew who I was and they had me come in and I got to be Phoebe so I didn't know whether friends would be a hit or not you shoot a pilot and most of them don't go anywhere they don't go to series so I just thought well the good thing about this pilot on NBC is mad about use on NBC and that's the job I've got to protect because it was such a great show too I was so happy to be doing it so when we when friends got on the air and they gave it the timeslot right after mad about you and I was still gonna be allowed to be on Mad About You everyone had to work together and reason well we've got to explain why that same person is on it eight and then 8:30 so they just made them sisters let's take another question over there in the blue sari on f3 of um blue hi um I think I read that at one point the whole cast kind of went on strike so that the men and the women both got equal pay and I was just wondering if you still feel that there's problems in Hollywood in the area about women and men and equality okay well we didn't go on strike we all wanted to get paid the same but it had nothing to do with any kind of gender and balance because actually the highest person paid before we all got the same was one of the women not one of the men but we that whole thing was more about the six of us need to get the exact same thing we can't have anyone making more than the other because that would cause too much tension and we can't afford for there to be tension when we're all meant to be best friends and and our producers supported us so that was fantastic and then the next part is the inequity of salaries it depends I mean huh you know I don't I don't know enough but it seems to me that if you are gutsy enough to ask for a lot and hold out for it the audience and your box-office records will let a studio know how much if you're worth what you're saying you're worth and if in general there are more men that get paid more as actors I mean then women then it's because there might be a larger audience I don't know I mean I'm aware that there's a difference and it's not fair but I don't know in this case if it's really just a gender equality inequality thing do you know do you think that beyond the salaries there's a little sexism in Hollywood do have you ever can well yeah well there is and getting outs I've spent something you've personally encountered yeah it has but um you know I don't know they're varying degrees and I think since the whole paranoia and and you know I remember we were part of the first we had to have meetings and we were all in shock we had to attend these meetings on sexual harassment and we were in shock over it like really he really men aren't gonna be allowed to say make some kind of off-color joke anymore come on and then it actually did stop and oh okay great that's one thing I don't have to toughen up okay cuz you know I'm a little old-fashioned that way you know but um oh yeah uh yeah so all of that behavior had to had to stop for sure but you know I don't know now I'm too old no one's interested so I mean nothing it doesn't that doesn't happen take another question over there by the wall hi um I was just wondering do you think is every chance that friends could have a reunion because you always hear the rumors about friends movie and things I know I see I hear those I see those rumors a lot online um but as know there isn't gonna be one there isn't gonna be one I know that the you know it would really the actors would really want the creators of the show David Crane Marta Kauffman who wrote and created the show to write something and there's just there's no idea that they could work on and also I mean I was talking about with you earlier or you earlier all of you none of you know but um you know this was a multi-camera show so it's sort of half theatre half TV as opposed to Sex in the City which is single camera which is sort of like a film and way so it really that one lends itself to a film and you know the sitcom thing I can't think of one that's been done unless it was sort of a spoof like Brady Bunch or you know something like that that was a spoof so I can see there being sort of like a spoof movie making fun of friends but what's there to make fun of hi hi what was your favorite thing to film when you were filming friends which episode or which kind of moment or season even was your favorite bit well you know it's the stuff that's not on that can't on you know that's not in the show so one of the things that I remember the most and I swear I might be the only one laughing by the end of the story but it was um Sean Penn was the guest star and this was a Halloween episode so everyone had to wear insane costumes and you know I was Wonder Woman Matthew Perry was a big giant pink bunny rabbit and Sean pan Sean Penn was like a solar system he has like planets or something and it was taken a while to shoot in front of the audience and and we would always joke around in between usually sort of tech have these sort of like tickling fights things and especially Matthew matt LeBlanc and I so you know just as you're sort of like walking through the set and you kind of get too close to someone they could like and tickle you and it's terrifying and so you know Matthew and I are sort of engaged in that kind of and that war so mathy is already you know like on guard and Sean Penn was just like walking by and Matt went whoa like Sean Penn was gonna tickle him and plan it outfit and Matthews pink bunny he wasn't gonna tickle him so we have really hard about that he was you know like what anyway I don't know it just makes me laugh the idea of like Sean Penn guy me I'm gonna do that so that's one of my favorite moments taken from the gallery no okay like gallery over there in the black top hey um I really love Easy A and I thought you were brilliant in it and I was wondering what it was like to work with young female comic actresses like Emma Stone is absolutely hilarious and did you feel like you saw yourself in them or like do you think it's changed the way young comic actresses are in the industry now and how how's that oh well I didn't see I mean that she's fantastic I mean I was mostly just struck with that and I had also just worked with her on another movie that many people didn't see I'd worked with her in a movie called Paperman with Jeff Daniels and her and Ryan Reynolds and she's just fantastic you know so um I don't know cuz when I'm in the scene it's all I can do to aim remember my lines and be you know I'm just trying to be that person with that character so you know I mean I think the thing that struck me when I first met her was when she and um oh what's his name anyway oh he's so cute Culkin um kieran culkin yeah so cuz they were both in that other movie when I first met them like oh my god we loved to come back so much that was that HBO show I was talking about that you guys don't know much about but um you know we loved it so much thank you yeah they're young it was about me it wasn't about her but I was yeah I was kind of blown away she's just really effortless and funny and it's easy and she just knocks it out every time so yeah that was fun to see they're very confident that's kind of what a lot of us talk about is you know some of these younger actors they're just so confident you know they don't seem worried about a thing which just makes them better let's take one from over this side um I was wondering if you enjoyed playing more serious roles because I saw you in Wonderland with Val Kilmer and I was wondering what your position was regarding like playing a comic role as TV much more serious rollin in films like Wonderland oh yeah I love that movie and I've loved it when I've gotten to you know play roles that weren't comedic it's easier to me cuz with comedy it just feels like there are so many possible tones and unless you really know the directors work or you think you get the tone of the movie and then you show up I'm talking about comedies and then you show up and everyone feels like you know they're a little more heightened than you were expecting you know I mean with comedy I think there are so many variations in pitch as opposed to a drama which is just being there and and you know having the appropriate emotions you know then the director can adjust you but with comedy I think it's tougher to get adjusted I don't know does that make any sense slightly let's go over there and you played Phoebe Buffay for like a decade I was just wondering if any of her like mannerisms or characteristics ever influenced the way you behave just in your life because you're doing it so much and also like by the like 100th episode did you find yourself not having to try that hard at all when you walked in sex you've done it so much or was it still like an effort to work even at the tenth series okay so the first part yeah I mean I definitely felt and still feel a ton of Phoebe in me and I'm trying to actually like shove her out as I'm getting older because it's not appropriate um but she's really lighter and a lot easier to get along with I think but um but and then the next part was 500th episode is it easier to just like show up and yeah you'd think because yes it is except I remember one season well into it coming back and I was having such a hard time and Matt LeBlanc who always everything he said was just welcome anyway but matt LeBlanc just went what's going on with you yeah he's very direct and what's going on ice like I don't I don't know what I'm doing I think I've I don't know what I'm doing that this isn't working he says are you kidding you know the character just relax stop it you know the character you're trying think it's supposed to be work cuz it used to be work when you were figuring out the character you don't have to do that work anymore because you know where and I went okay he was right I was looking for work and what kind of impact did that have on future elves did you find other words slipping into Phoebe at times you'd adopt her mannerisms um sometimes yeah yeah and I know but not a ton but sometimes yes and it was on purpose because I know for certain roles that's exactly why I was asked to please do the part you know cuz that's the person people are gonna want to see hmm I was on including Burnie and Michele's high school Union well no because to me they're very different um two completely different kinds of idiot well Michele Weinberger that character is definitely an idiot but I had done that was my first kind of job cuz I did a play called ladies room in which there were two characters called Romy and Michele who'd come in and out of the ladies room and we were on stage a total of five minutes the other girl and I so I had played Michele Weinberger for a long time I knew exactly who she was and so that character existed before Phoebe let's take another question over that hi I'm Eva she works with a huge variety of people over the years and all the different projects you've done here would you say is your favorite actors to work with oh yeah what let's see um my favorite actor to work with that's tough cuz there are different reasons you know why you're so like thrilled and happy to be working with people but I think just because of the sheer ten years of it all any one of the five people I had worked with you know now that you know I'm doing web therapy and so far we've had Courtney Cox David Schwimmer and matt LeBlanc do it and there's just something really easy about that even though we're playing different people there's a trust there that shows you know so I guess that's my answer yes yeah move it there in the back it'd be interesting to hear your deepest regret in life and you'll and your proudest achievement in life and proudest achievement oh okay um deepest regret now I'm happy to say I don't have those cuz they don't help me I'm only interested in things that help me um so deepest regret I mean I do have one regret I don't think it's very deep I sometimes wish that instead of being a biology major I had been an Italian major cuz I think it would have been more fun um and achievement well I mean they're right there my husband and son so 18 years marriage with that fantastic man and that phenomenal 15 year old but how gross of me to call that my achievement Oh mine the thing I'm most proud to have participated in how's that I'm just avoiding everything you said all right let's go over here do you think keen for a while thank you hey I feel about spoiling the moment now but you know I'm Gladys the picture with the Gladys the head boom atha I don't know do you have it I think the guy from you know the Gregg Grande either made it the art department or he bought it from an artist I don't know what but by the way we weren't allowed to have any of that we didn't own any of that stuff so we weren't really allowed to have anything except I did get one thing because Matthew Perry begged and he gave it to me when we rapped and that is um there was a cookie jar in Monica's apartment that sat on top of the refrigerator it was like a clock face on it um and the reason he gave me that was because we were doing a scene and we just you know hadn't thought it through I guess in wardrobe but in the scene Phoebe says oh look what time look what time it is I gotta go nobody thought to give me a watch so we're shooting and it rolls around to that line and I'm like oh oh I just heard to the cookie jar wiped out and so then you know cut great and when I come back it I think it was Matt LeBlanc or Matthew Perry so yeah we laughed about that and then years later he'd made sure I got the cookie jar thank you yeah stay back to this side head may be hit by him this is um you mentioned your production company and your production partner and I was just wondering sort of what sort of products you have in development because I'm big fan of your production partner as well I was wanting sort of what sort of things are you continuing sort of expanding web therapy or going into new sort of projects well so we're still in the middle of doing web therapy and that'll be our fifth web season which is on in the u.s. right now on Hulu and the third it's the third season on Showtime so we're still doing that and and who do you think you are is now in its fourth season over there so we're pretty busy with that and you know Dan is also he's on scandal and he's a consulting writer for Grey's Anatomy and then when he can he comes to our offices and you know I mean it's - it's we're kind of lurid thin so in development we do have some things but we're too tired to flesh them out but thanks for asking let's go over there hi um I want to do ask about Regina Landy right oh you just want to ask about her was actually I don't remember I don't think I did have a part in deciding the name of it no I don't think I did I think the writers came up with regina filangie and it just ended up being the same name I don't even think I was aware that I kept using the same fake name um but no they came up with it that's funny I know would you ever want to have some sort of alter ego you could slip in to go shopping without everyone clouding you etc oh yeah let's go on over there at the back I so the six of you friends are pretty big stars so everyone knows what you're like I was a character but I had to ask Janice I was bloody annoying I was so tired no oh no that's Maggie wheeler who played Janice and no she's this really smart fantastic woman you know a very smart wonderful woman who just happened to know what those kinds of women sound and act like really well so yeah she's great Maggie that's funny cuz she was so good at it you figure well that's gotta be her yeah it's not though she's very poised it's good to that guy back um you fo crossed over from acting to producing I just wanted to ask you what was some of the challenges and pleasures of what are some of the challenges and pleasures of working as a producer well my favorite part of producing is is actually the work I get to do producing who do you think you are more than producing anything else just because I just I love I still love that show I love the history I love the you know personalizing the history and I just I feel like I get to learn something every episode we shoot because obviously I wasn't a history major and I zoned out just as much as everyone else in America when we studied history and world history so I I don't know I'm just thrilled to be learning things and the reaction that whoever does the show just the reaction you get from them is great they're all really appreciative so it feels like a public service let's take another question over here hi so I was just wondering in friends and I think you mention as well in your web therapy thing you have a lot of kind of one-time guest stars what's it like working with kind of sometimes you get quite big actors like a different friends one time there was Brad Pitt or something is it kind of is it a bit do you get starstruck it was the husband and it said that anyone who's particularly fun or difficult to work with I'm from friends or or anywhere close um difficult no I mean the thing with friends was and this is for anyone who came on we had some like fantastic people that came on friends yeah flirting to Brad Pitt yeah um obviously but um no no one difficult but but the thing is is that there's something about that for camera way of acting we're the most commonly asked question for any film actor coming on to do friends was how do you do this with what is there's an audience but it's a camera what I like what what what like really scared I mean people were really terrified to do it so but no one was difficult you know they were just scared if it then blue shot hi so I just wanted to follow up on that question how do you do it when you're pitching to both an audience and four cameras I forget I mean it I've completely forget I mean I guess I know Phoebe and to me what I would tell them really everyone look at me like oh my god you're an idiot um I would just say you know you have the same intentions it's you know it is acting still any of the same intentions just louder did you because it brings your energy up a little bit we used to we'd had we had like the first few years yeah we'd rehearse a lot and then yeah because we all knew our characters we didn't need the rehearsal so and then you know once you shoot it there's time to learn your lines before you go on you know your scene is up and then they change the lines every time you shoot because you know the audience heard that joke they're not gonna laugh at this time this one might be better so they they change things a lot so we didn't you know after that many years I mean even after five years we knew who our characters were we didn't need to rehearse as much let's go to one on this side never that fun when friends finished were you ready for it to end would you want to keep going and the same as the other characters as well and what did you want it to keep going or you ready for it to come to an end oh okay so um it was a little both I mean in one way yeah we were we I was done I knew that you know it has to end sometime and you know you know the cast sort of after that's one voice so you know if any of us didn't want to do it any more than we all didn't want to do it anymore and so you know I definitely had mixed feelings about it knowing that it's time for it to be over but my god this is a great job I mean where do you make this much money laughing all day every day um oh you know and it's such good writing and people still like the show so to me that was sort of the the challenge but it's good that we finished cuz I never would have there now you know I wasn't one of the ones who wanted to stop doing it sorry sorry five other people over to hand the blue t-shirt um okay um what do you think makes good comedy what do I think makes good comedy um I mean I think ultimately it's that thing that surprises you you know the thing that's unexpected so I mean even yeah I don't know and and you know the thing is the other writing usually has to be good it has to demonstrate that people were listening to each other and responding to each other but we would do this thing the six of us where we would take a line one of our lines and all right you know Lisa you say it now and then I'd say it as Phoebe and it came out completely different but made sense as any of the six of us would say it and it was still funny it was just different given the character so um I don't know that has nothing to do with what you asked but I think cuz what I'm getting to is that everyone is so has their own voice and they're so unique everyone really is unique once you find your voice that it doesn't matter as long as what you do is just kind of unexpected that that's what makes it funny let's get back to this give for that I am just wondering one of the the compliments that are often paired to combat issues today is that it's this stepkids answer dear friends I was wondering if you had a particularly sure that you watched sure that you've considered to be this deck is answered your friends or sure like that yeah I kind of feel like um new girl and Mindy Kaling nothing you know they're the answer to friends I just like those shows and you know they are about people who know each other and have relationships so but I like those shows and they're younger than I am let's go over there at the back hello um there are so many comedy shows on I mean why do you think friends have the magic to carried on what was special about friends there wasn't there another set comes at the time what's the first thing you said uh I can't remember why was friends so popular and why is it still so popular now do you think oh I had no idea I mean IIIi think it had something to do with the writing plus the chemistry amongst the three of us out of the six of us the six of us um and why is it still funny I don't know I mean I think because the comedies behavior-based less than like current events based character based I'm tired but behavior character let's go to that side it was that back hi Lisa just a quick question how do you think what do you feel when you see yourself in television Viet and friends or anything else is that weird yeah well it depends on what mood I'm in which I kind of learned early on if I'm in a bad mood then I'm like the worst actor I've ever seen in my life and if I'm in a good mood then oh okay that's not bad um so that's how that that's how I feel let's go back here to this one over there um friends gets a lot of attention is there anything that you've done that you think should so deserves enough attention as friends you kind of would you rather we had less of a focus on friends and look for something others like things he did as well no no I mean I don't argue with what is you know and friends was this massive hit that just spoke to everybody in so many different countries so that is what it is you know and so it it's great that it happened and it's great that people like it and the other things I've done have been just a little not as um not as much mass appeal you know they've been a little more niche I think and so I can't possibly expect and thank God I don't require that everything I do after friends be as big a hit as friends cuz that's just a lifetime of disappointment after you know that's unnecessary I don't feel bad about how many questions have about friends what I don't so I understand I mean I know it's been big here absolutely yeah and let's take another question I can't see the face I can just your hand but yeah that works hi um I was just wondering what your favorite storyline to shoot on friends was and if you had like a favorite episode whether it was that Phoebe or any of the other characters that they had oh I should have thought about this before coming here you know I mostly remember the earlier episodes because that's and we were all really paying attention to each other um but I can't remember I'm sorry I have no answer I'm sorry all right let's take one from this lengthen I'm still trying to think remember something if it's that hi so my my little sister she really wants to become an actor she's 17 now she's planning to go to film school next year rather go to university so that's why I'd like to ask would you recommend that you follow your dreams to pursue unstable career like acting or would you recommend furthering your education and having something to fall back on in case things don't work out and my little sister like meet us human because she's a huge fan of yours and she'd love to work with you if I could pass you her resume afterwards she needs a casting director to send a resume to UM that's a tough question you know that's up to the person it's really tough I mean I did feel like I had a fallback so I did always feel safe in case it doesn't work out I could always go back to school and pick up on whatever wherever I left off in the field of evolutionary biology you know that wasn't going anywhere um so that was my fallback it depends on who you are you know whether you need a fallback or a fallback is actually not gonna be helpful but it's up to you I honestly believe at least in the u.s. opportunity for an after it comes at regular intervals and you know sometimes you're ready for it and sometimes you're not and it's okay cuz just like the tide it's gonna come around again and maybe that time you will be and then it's whether or not it's gonna be a big hit or not well do you know what I noticed from taking acting classes cuz I was you know sort of running around for eight years before I got mad about you and what I noticed were people that just had to stop because life started picking up speed getting married having kids and then there were other responsibilities and so yeah I have to take care of those things I can't wait for this to happen and to me that's why you know they had to stop not because they weren't very good you know they were good no it's really tough not comforting I didn't help in any way sorry I always vote for a college education though if for no other reason okay if for no other reason then because the experience you pick up by going to school and meeting other people and the other information you're gonna collect in your head if nothing else I think is all really useful for then bringing it to whatever characters you're gonna be playing down the road well yeah I gave me I said she should go to school okay I think we've got time for two more questions and they all go up over there wait I'm sorry but six of us only two of us went to college so the other four did fine without it see how there's no answer ghost girl in the red top with the polka dot minor car yeah I think this make it up hello um I was just wondering as you just said you majored like evolution biology if you remember was it quite fun during the episode where you argued with Ross about saying that evolution you didn't believe in evolution it was so hard for me it was really really hard for me to do that episode yeah and part of me felt like oh wait could I have a better argument again wonder if I can you know it was really hard let's take off final question oh yeah yeah hi and you mentioned that web therapy was quite improvised I was wondering whether you enjoyed the creativity and freedom black could bring or you found it like a pressurizing situation um it's kind of thrilling and you know it's don roose who's phenomenal writer director and dan Bukit in ski and i who come up with we created the show and so we come up with the outline the stories and because it's improvised it's only when you start playing the scene that you realize oh okay that's not a story that we came up with or oh the third one doesn't help explain okay oh and so you have to just go in and rewrite what the story is but the dialogue is completely improvised so that's the challenge there and then in editing you know because there's no script to follow and people go off in different ways but the editing is really masterful I think on the show it's a challenge everyone I'm afraid that's all we've got time for so on behalf of all of us thank you so much for coming out thank you you

Channel: Cambridge Union

Views: 25,403

Keywords: The, Cambridge, Union, Society, Friends, Lisa Kudrow (TV Program Creator), phoebe, buffay, TV, who do you think you are, smelly cat, smelly, cat, Best Friends, phoebe buffay, Cambridge Union Society (Location)

Id: SJezOwWMwB0

Length: 65min 1sec (3901 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 26 2013