Lisa Kudrow Clarifies Jennifer Aniston's Claim She Hated Audience Laughter on 'Friends'
She only ~mildly~ hated it.
Lisa Kudrow didn't hate the audience laughter on Friends, she was just somewhat "irritated" by it.
Kudrow has set the record straight in a new interview after her costar Jennifer Aniston said that she (Kudrow) was really annoyed by the laughs while they were filming the cult TV series.
"Lisa Kudrow hated, by the way, when the audience laughed," Aniston said in a conversation with Quinta Brunson for Variety's Actors on Actors series last month. "She'd be like, 'Uh, are you still... I'm not done! It's not that funny.'"
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight's Rachel Smith, Kudrow expanded on Aniston's claim, making it clear that she didn't hate the laughter, period, she hated that it was excessive.
"It irritated me if they would laugh for too long," the Romy and Michele's High School Reunion star said. "God bless 'em, they were so excited to be there that sometimes the laughter would just be longer than they would have laughed at anything else."
She continued, "I was like, 'Alright, well, take it easy. It's not that funny, and there's more to say!'"
Asked if she'd ever participate in another sitcom filmed in front of a live studio audience, Kudrow said, "I think so! Why not?"
She spoke to ET while promoting her new TV series Time Bandits, in which she stars alongside Taika Waititi. The show premieres on Apple TV+ on July 24.
The show is an adaptation of the 1981 movie by the same name, and follows the adventures of "a young boy who discovers a time-traveling portal in his bedroom," according to iMDb.
Kudrow and Aniston costarred on Friends between 1994 and 2004, and have remained close friends ever since. They regularly hang out and support each other during important occasions—such as the time both women showed up for Courteney Cox' Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2023. They really said "I'll be there for you," huh?
