Lisa Kudrow has addressed the criticism that the iconic sitcom Friends has faced about its lack of diversity during its ten-year run.
The 59-year-old, who starred as goofy and loveable Phoebe Buffay on the NBC series, first addressed the issue back in 2020 when she acknowledged that if the show were produced in today's world, "it would not be an all-white cast".
And in a new interview, the actress reflected on the casting decisions for the show, stating that the creators of the show, David Crane and Marta Kauffman, were only formulating the show from their own experiences.
"Well, I feel like it was a show created by two people who went to Brandeis and wrote about their lives after college," Lisa Kudrow told The Daily Beast. "And for shows especially, when it's going to be a comedy that's character-driven, you write what you know.
The meme that keeps on giving
"They have no business writing stories about the experiences of being a person of colour. I think at that time, the big problem that I was seeing was, "Where's the apprenticeship?"'.
Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman now understands inclusivity's importance in her future projects.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times earlier this year, she said: "I want to make sure from now on in every production I do that I am conscious in hiring people of colour and actively pursue young writers of colour. I want to know I will act differently from now on. And then I will feel unburdened."
She also admitted last month to being so "embarrassed" and "guilty" over the lack of diversity in Friends that she donated $4 million to create the Marta F. Kauffman '78 Professorship in African and African American Studies at Brandeis University.
"I wish I knew then what I knew today, I would have made very different decisions," she also said during an interview at the virtual ATX Television Festival. "I didn't do enough. Now all I can think about is what can I do, and what can I do differently. How can I run my show in a new way? That's something I wish I knew when I started show running."
Friends is one of the most recognisable and beloved sitcoms in the world today. Lisa starred in Friends alongside the cast of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, with all six coming back together in 2021 for a reunion special.
While Friends will continue to be a sitcom staple for years to come, the lack of diversity is a shame and will continue not to represent future generations of viewers. We can only hope that the higher-ups in the entertainment industry use it as an example to make their future film and television projects more inclusive. We all deserve to be represented on screen.
The three-part docuseries from Discovery+ dives into the allegations against the exiled Hollywood actor, as well as the “dark and twisted secrets” of his family.
