Lisa Kudrow Fired From Frasier Before Friends

Before Lisa Kudrow became known as Phoebe Buffay on Friends, she almost starred in Frasier.

Chatting with Jason Bateman and Will Arnett on their “SmartLess” podcast, Lisa shared that she was originally cast as Roz Doyle for the Frasier pilot. Although Peri Gilpin ended up with the role, Kudrow had been part of the cast until they let her go. Frasier ran for 11 seasons, and Friends lasted for 10.

“I didn’t actually film anything; I got fired before we even started,” Kudrow revealed about the pilot episode. Director James Burrows told her, “This isn’t working,” during the show’s early stages.

She even tried to ask, “What can I do?” but felt they had made a mistake with her casting. Kudrow believed Peri Gilpin was always meant to be Roz and that a correction was made when they brought Gilpin in.

Interestingly enough, a small guest spot on Mad About You (she played a waitress) helped her realize comedy was her calling. Her team advised against it, but she insisted on taking the role because passing up opportunities just wasn’t an option for her then.

While working on Mad About You, she met Jeffrey Klarik who introduced her to David Crane, one of the creators of Friends. Funny how things work out sometimes!

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In 1998, Lisa became the first Friends cast member to win an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She confessed that during her audition for Friends, she thought she blew it and would lose out to someone else.

“When I did my audition in this tiny room, Burrows sat at a desk while I performed a little monologue from a chair. When I finished, he just said ‘No notes.’ That made me think it was hopeless.” 😅