'Friends' star Lisa Kudrow responds to criticisms of show's 'all-white cast,' saying sitcom 'should be looked at as a time capsule, not for what they did wrong'

• Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay on "Friends," opened up about how the 90s sitcom featuring an all-white leading cast could be different if it were filmed today.
• "Well, it would not be an all-white cast, for sure," she told British newspaper The Times in an article published Saturday.
• Kudrow countered criticism that "Friends" did not age well, considering its lack of diversity, by pointing out the show's more progressive storylines such as an LGBTQ character.
• She also shared what she thought Phoebe, her character, would be doing in quarantine: "She would be militaristic about creating art."
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Lisa Kudrow, known for playing Phoebe Buffay on "Friends," said that she stands behind the beloved '90s sitcom that continues to garner fans.

In an article published Saturday in British newspaper The Times, Kudrow opened up about some recent criticism of "Friends" and the show's all-white protagonists and told reporter Jonathan Dean how she imagines the show could be different if it were to be re-created today.

"Oh, it'd be completely different," Kudrow said. "Well, it would not be an all-white cast, for sure."

The 56-year-old actress continued, saying of the iconic series: "I'm not sure what else, but, to me, it should be looked at as a time capsule, not for what they did wrong."

The actress also pointed out that despite commentary of certain scenes and elements of "Friends" not aging well, she believes the show — which ran from 1994 until 2004 — did have storylines that were meaningful and culturally relevant for the time.

"This show thought it was very progressive," Kudrow said. "There was a guy whose wife discovered she was gay and pregnant, and they raised the child together? We had surrogacy too. It was, at the time, progressive."

Kudrow said in her interview with The TImes that she doesn't regret being a part of the sitcom, which she describes as more than a "fun comedy," but a show "about people connecting."

"Part of what appeals about ['Friends'] now is that young people have this unconscious nostalgia for personal connection. And not just right now during the pandemic, but before that," Kudrow said in The Times interview.

"I don't see a reality where 'Friends' was anything but good," she said.

Kudrow also joked that, in light of the pandemic, she thinks her character, Phoebe, would be spending time in quarantine making art, and that Phoebe and her husband on the show, Mike Hannigan (Paul Rudd), would have had kids.

"I feel like if they'd had kids, she would be militaristic about creating art. So their place would be overrun with huge, outlandish projects," Kudrow said.

The "Friends" cast was supposed to team up for their first reunion special since the show ceased production more than a decade ago.

The unscripted special, as well as all 10 seasons of "Friends," were set to be a part of HBO Max, a new streaming service that launches May 27 and is $14.99 per month. Due to the coronavirus halting production, the "Friends" special may not be done in time for the release of HBO Max, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

Click here to read the full interview from The Times.

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