Actress Lisa Kudrow, 63, best known for playing the iconic Phoebe Buffay in Friends, has revealed the role she really wanted was the “Jewish American princess” Rachel Green – but that was given to co-star Jennifer Aniston.
In real life, Kudrow is Jewish and Aniston is not, but the latter was selected by casting directors to play the lovestruck character – a decision Kudrow said was “the sweet way of saying, ‘Yeah, you are not the romantic interest’” for Ross Geller, the Jewish character played by David Schwimmer, who is also of the faith in real life.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kudrow said of her original audition: “Idiot that I am, I went, ‘Oh, but you know what? I got to say, Rachel is Jewish. And boy, I love doing a Jewish American princess. I think I could make that really funny’.
“Not even clocking that, ‘Oh no, this is the romantic lead to Ross’. Right? I told my agents, ‘I can do Jewish American Princess and make that really funny’. And so they said, ‘Uh-huh. All right. Well, we’ll tell them [the show’s creators]’.
“They [later] went, ‘No, no. It’s so hard for them to find Phoebe. They’re not messing with that’. So that was the sweet way of saying, ‘Yeah, you are not the romantic interest’.”
She went on to say how looks played a large part in casting in the 1990s. “[I] didn’t look like women who were getting cast as series regulars on sitcoms,” she said.
“They still wanted a certain look: very pretty and appealing and all of that – and not that funny...
“It’s very hard because you’re not gorgeous, and they want gorgeous.
“And I’m like, ‘OK... I don’t think that’s ridiculous’. I got it. Also, it’s not just how you look; it’s how you act, too. I’m not ‘cute’. And God, I didn’t want to be cute.”
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