Los Angeles, April 5 – Hollywood actress Lisa Kudrow has clarified her role as Phoebe Buffay in the iconic sitcom "Friends".
The 62-year-old actress stated that her character "wasn't stupid," according to reports in 'People' magazine.
She discussed the matter with actress Lily Tomlin in an interview for Interview Magazine, saying, "At the time, it was like, 'She's such a fool. How is it that you only play fools?' And I thought, Is she a fool? To me, she wasn't".
When asked who called Phoebe a fool, she replied, "Everyone. In 1994, it was like, 'I love her. She's such a fool'. And it's like, yeah, okay, that was what a fool was to us. Someone who wasn't following the rules". However, she emphasized that her character "wasn't stupid".
According to 'People', the actress said it took some time for her to personally connect with her character, but it eventually happened over the show's long run.
"At first, Phoebe was very, very different from me. It took a lot of work to justify the things she would say and do. Not in a frustrating way, it was fun. Over the course of 10 years, a little bit of her came into me. I became a little more open-minded and started reading books on spirituality and other topics, just to try to understand her," she said.
The iconic sitcom about six friends living in New York City aired from 1994 to 2004. It also starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and the late Matthew Perry. Phoebe was a musician who worked in a variety of jobs throughout the series.
Lisa Kudrow won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of the quirky character.