Friends icon Lisa Kudrow reveals surprising opinion of beloved character: “He was horrible”

by

As a huge Friends fan, I was really surprised to hear Lisa Kudrow – Phoebe herself! – come out and say what a lot of us have been thinking for years: Ross was a terrible boyfriend. She didn’t hold back at all, and honestly, it’s refreshing to hear someone from the show acknowledge that his behavior wasn’t great. It’s a storyline many of us have always questioned, and it’s cool to hear her speak her mind about it!

Kudrow rose to fame playing Phoebe Buffay on the hit sitcom Friends, where she was one of the six main characters whose lives were followed for ten seasons.

Throughout the show’s ten seasons, Ross and Rachel (played by Jennifer Aniston) became its most talked-about couple. Their on-again, off-again relationship kept viewers guessing until the very end.

Their brief romance ended after a big fight about Rachel’s work, which put her near an attractive coworker named Mark (Steven Eckholdt). Ross was jealous of their closeness and felt insecure about Mark.

Things eventually fell apart between Rachel and Ross, and after she suggested they take a break, Ross slept with someone else. This sparked a long-running debate: was it cheating, or were they truly separated when it happened?

Kudrow is firm in her opinion: “No, they definitely weren’t [together]. But it’s more than just whether or not they dated – he simply wasn’t a good partner.”

Want to see this content?

This page uses a security feature called Google reCAPTCHA. Before it loads, we need your permission because it might use cookies and similar technologies. If you want to see the content, please select ‘Accept and continue’ to enable reCAPTCHA.

After revisiting the show to fondly remember her late friend and colleague, Matthew Perry, Kudrow now views a particular storyline in a new light.

She said she regretted getting back together with him, explaining that he had treated her badly, and the audience applauded in agreement.

Kudrow explained that it didn’t matter to her if the man had been with other people. The real issue was that he overreacted when she was unavailable due to a work crisis, and she found his behavior surprising and dramatic.

The actor is talking about the awkward scene where Ross unexpectedly shows up at Rachel’s workplace with a picnic basket while she’s dealing with a stressful work crisis. Despite his good intentions, it’s clear the timing couldn’t have been worse.

Here’s a link to the complete interview with Kudrow and Fallon, where she also talks about the final season of The Comeback.

Want to see this content?

This page includes videos from YouTube. Before they appear, we need your permission because YouTube uses cookies and similar tools. Click ‘Accept and continue’ to watch the videos and allow YouTube to function as needed.

Friends is available to stream on HBO Max. Subscribe from £5.99 a month.

Want to keep track of friends on TopMob’s ‘What to Watch’ app? Download it now for daily TV suggestions, interesting articles, and much more!

Authors

David CraigSenior Drama Writer

David Craig writes about TV and streaming drama and comedy for TopMob. Before that, he worked at Starburst Magazine and hosted The Winter King Podcast on ITVX. He has a degree in Journalism from the University of Sheffield.

  • Visit us on Twitter

Read More

2026-05-06 17:04