Lisa Kudrow gets 'emotional' recalling Friends after 9/11
Lisa Kudrow played Phoebe Buffay in Friends from 1994 until 2004.
Lisa Kudrow still gets "a little emotional" remembering Friends after 9/11.
The star - who played Phoebe Buffay in the NBC sitcom - understood that the series gave people a sense of escapism following the horrific terrorist attacks on the United States, which claimed the lives of 2,977 victims.
In a video interview with Vanity Fair, Lisa said: "After 9/11, I understood how important entertainment really is, and how important comedies are, and how important Friends was to people because we do need that escape."
The actress - who portrayed the quirky and optimistic singer-songwriter and masseuse on all 10 seasons of Friends - recalled emotional meetings with fans after the events of September 11.
Lisa, 62, remembered: "I would drive home from the set, from Friends, and people, you're at a stoplight, and the car next to you, someone would look over and go, 'Ahh!'
"After 9/11, it still gets me a little emotional, I have to say. Someone would look over and just go, 'Thank you,' like, about to cry, and just say, 'Thank you.' And I fully understood what they meant."
This proved to her just how much entertainment can impact people.
Lisa added: "That's when I think I really took it in, you know, what these shows do mean to us. And [I] felt very proud to be contributing to a break for people."
The Romy and Michele's High School Reunion cast member realised that people were getting a "mental health service" because of Friends - which ran from 1994 until 2004.
But for Lisa, it was the NBC sitcom Will and Grace that provided her comfort in the aftermath of 9/11.
In 2023, she told People: "After 9/11, all I was doing was watching the news and every single thing I saw was someone who knew someone that was in one of the towers or something like that.
"I started watching Will + Grace, and I said, 'Oh, OK. Oh, I wonder, they're in New York. Oh God, they're in New York. I wonder who they knew in the buildings, if they knew anyone.'
"Then I went, 'Oh, no, wait, no, because they would've shot this before 9/11. You work in that TV, you know. Don't be an idiot.' Then I went, 'No, no. This is fiction. In this world, it didn't even happen.'"
Lisa continued: "I just needed that break, and I was so grateful that there was something to watch where 9/11 hadn't happened at all. It was a break that I really needed."
