Lisa Kudrow reveals astonishing amount Friends cast STILL make in residuals… 20 years after finale

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Lisa Kudrow surprised fans by sharing just how much money she and the other actors from Friends continue to earn each year from the show’s continued popularity.

Lisa Kudrow is famous for her role as the quirky Phoebe Buffay on the hit show Friends, which aired for ten seasons between 1994 and 2004. She acted alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and the late Matthew Perry.

As a huge fan, I always found it amazing how the cast stuck together and negotiated as a group. It’s incredible to think they started at just $22,500 an episode, and by the last couple of seasons, they were each making a million! It really shows their power and how much the show meant to everyone.

The cast came back together for a special reunion episode on HBO Max in 2021, and sources say each of them made around $2.5 million for the event.

However, Kudrow explains that even those huge checks from recent deals aren’t as significant as the ongoing income the cast still earns from the show being shown around the world.

In a recent interview with The Times, 62-year-old actress Lisa Kudrow, currently appearing in the new season of The Comeback, shared that the show’s cast members collectively earn a remarkable $20 million annually from residuals.

During the interview, Kudrow also discussed the show’s continued financial success, explaining that its lasting popularity makes all the earnings completely understandable.

After Matthew Perry’s death, Lisa Kudrow rewatched Friends. She said that previously, she’d only focused on her own performance and what she could have done differently, but this time she was able to truly enjoy how wonderful the show was. Perry tragically passed away on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54, due to the effects of ketamine.

It was truly a moment of brilliance. Nothing we experience in the future will ever quite compare.

I thought I did alright, but Jennifer and Courteney were incredible! David and Matt were hilarious, and Matthew was just on another level – he completely stole the show.

This revelation follows Kudrow’s recent comments that she felt somewhat overlooked in comparison to her fellow cast members on Friends.

She claimed her castmates eclipsed her in popularity while the hit series was still on air.

She told The Independent that she felt overlooked, explaining that some people at her talent agency simply called her “the sixth Friend.”

After Friends became incredibly popular starting with its second season, many of Lisa Kudrow’s co-stars went on to star in successful movies. Kudrow has mentioned that she found it harder to get similar opportunities.

She explained that no one helped her think about her future or what she could achieve professionally. People simply saw her getting on the show as good luck, and that was it.

Even though she faced some challenges at the beginning, Kudrow successfully continued her career after Friends, notably with her well-received HBO show, The Comeback.

She developed the show alongside Michael Patrick King, and they both recently discussed how, despite her huge popularity on Friends, she didn’t receive many job offers at the time. He seemed genuinely surprised by this during their conversation about the show’s upcoming third season.

King also noted that she was the first member of the show’s cast to receive an Emmy Award, winning for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1998.

Kudrow explained that she didn’t start getting really good roles until she appeared in the 1999 comedy Analyze This, with Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal.

The actress had previously shared that she went back to work just a few days after her son, Julian, was born in 1998.

She recently recalled that just ten days after giving birth to her son, she was already back at work, appearing on the Tonight Show and attending a meeting about the movie Analyze This, as she shared with CBS Sunday Morning in April.

After giving birth to her son on May 7th, she recalled her agent reassuring her that she had plenty of time to recover. Her agent said she wouldn’t need to start filming again until July, so there was no need to worry.

I often get asked if I’m anything like Phoebe Buffay, and I’ve explained many times that, surprisingly, we’re actually quite different! While I’ll always be linked to that iconic character, it’s important to remember that it was a role I played, not a reflection of my own personality. I recently touched on this again in an interview with Interview Magazine.

She explained that Phoebe initially seemed very different from her. It required effort to understand Phoebe’s words and actions, but it wasn’t frustrating – it was actually enjoyable.

Over time, however, she said she grew into the role.

Over ten years, I started to understand her a little bit and let some of her personality influence me. I became more easygoing and even explored spirituality through reading, all in an effort to connect with her.

Kudrow also challenged the perception that she only plays ditzy characters, and shared that she doesn’t even see her character Phoebe as one anymore.

She explained that back in 1994, calling someone a ‘ditz’ meant they weren’t conforming to expectations. It was a common way to express affection, even if the term itself was dismissive.

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2026-04-29 01:50