Lisa Kudrow has revealed her genuine thoughts on one of the most contentious Friends plots: were Ross and Rachel truly on a vacation?
The actress, who played the eccentric Phoebe Buffay on the popular comedy, offered her opinion on a storyline point that has long caused controversy among viewers: Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel’s (Jennifer Aniston) “we were on a break” breakup.
The main point of contention among fans has been whether Ross was justified in having an affair with Chloe, a worker at a Xerox copy shop, after claiming that he believed he and Rachel were “on a break.”
Despite acknowledging that she was “afraid” to bring up the divisive topic, Kudrow, 62, offered her biting opinion on Monday’s broadcast of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
What do you think? Fallon enquired, “Were they on a break?” and she said, “Well, no.” However, it goes beyond that. Is it unbreakable or not? He wasn’t a good boyfriend.
The celebrity was taken aback when fans cheered her response, saying, “Oh, you agree!” I feel better, I see.I’m grateful. I’m grateful for this. I’m grateful to all of you.
Lisa Kudrow has expressed her genuine thoughts on one of the most contentious Friends plots: were Ross and Rachel truly taking a break?
The celebrity commented on the breakup of Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), as well as the ongoing controversy among fans regarding Ross’s right to have slept with someone else after saying they were “on a break.” A still of Schwimmer and Aniston said, “We did the reunion just like five years ago… we were all so like, “They were on a break.” “Rachel, that hysterical shrew, not letting him sleep with someone and won’t get back together,” Kudrow recounted. “She shouldn’t have gotten back with him because he was horrible,” she continued. “To me, it’s like, I don’t care if he slept with three other women or no other women.” He lost it since you were unavailable for a few evenings due to an issue at work. And you exclaim, “Wow!”
Additionally, Kudrow remained mute when Fallon enquired if Schwimmer knew that she thought his character was a terrible lover, to which the host joked, “He knows now.”
When Schwimmer talked to Fallon in 2020, his perspective was completely different.
“They were on a break,” he continued. “It’s not even a question.”
In a 2022 advertisement, Aniston claimed, “For the record… we were so not on a break.”
It follows Kudrow’s previous accusation that the show’s mostly male writing staff openly discussed their sexual desires regarding her female co-stars.
Did Ross’s actions go too far, or should Rachel have forgiven him?
Kudrow expressed her opinions about The Tonight Show by saying, “It’s beyond break or not.” He was a terrible boyfriend, she said. “She shouldn’t have gotten back with him because he was horrible.” The actress was taken aback by the audience’s support and applause for the statement.
Whether he slept with three other women or none at all doesn’t matter to me. He lost it since you were unavailable for a few evenings due to an issue at work. “Wow!” she exclaimed.
In 2020, Schwimmer said to Fallon, “It’s not even a question.” They were taking a vacation. Aniston had previously said, “For the record… we were so not on a break.”
With each 22-minute episode taking up to six hours to film in front of an eager studio audience in Los Angeles, thousands of miles away from its New York City setting, she said that life on set was at odds with the show’s casual premise.
“There was definitely mean stuff going on behind the scenes,” Kudrow told The Times. “Remember, we were recording in front of a live audience of 400 people, and if you messed up one of these writers’ lines or it didn’t get the perfect response, they could be like, “Can’t the b* f*** read? She’s not even making an effort. She messed up my queue.”
According to Kudrow, the mostly male writing crew would also have obscene discussions about her female co-stars, Aniston and Courteney Cox.
“The guys would be up late discussing their sexual fantasies about Jennifer and Courteney,” she added. It was very intense.
Yes, it could be harsh, but these guys—the majority of them were men—were seated till three in the morning. I had the mindset, “Say what you like about me behind my back because then it doesn’t matter,” since I was trying to compose the show.
In an interview with The Independent, the actress asserted that while the show was still on, her popularity was overshadowed by co-stars Aniston, Cox, Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and the late Matthew Perry.
“No one gave a damn about me,” she remarked. “I was referred to as “the sixth Friend” by some members of [my talent agency.”
Recently, Kudrow accused the mostly male writing staff of the show of openly expressing their sexual fantasies about her female co-stars, Courteney Cox and Aniston.
During the 10 seasons of the sitcom, which ran from 1994 to 2004, Kudrow portrayed Phoebe with Aniston, Cox, Schwimmer, Matt Le Blanc, and the late Matthew Perry.
Some of her co-stars used the success of Friends, which became a huge smash after its second season, to land important movie roles, but Kudrow seemed to believe that she didn’t get the same kind of agreements.
“I had no expectations about the type of career I could have, and there was no vision for me,” she stated. It was thinking, “Boy, is she lucky she got on that show.”
Kudrow has found lasting success on a number of sitcoms outside of Friends, notably her HBO series The Comeback, despite feeling undervalued earlier in her career.
Alongside Aniston, Cox, Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and the late Matthew Perry, Kudrow portrayed Phoebe during the show’s ten-season run from 1994 to 2004.
