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Lisa Kudrow says ‘Friends’ cast still earns $20M a year in residuals

Lisa Kudrow says ‘Friends’ cast still earns M a year in residuals

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Lisa Kudrow’s breakthrough role in “Friends” is still making big money 30 years after it first aired in 1994.

During a recent interview Times in LondonThe 62-year-old actor revealed that he and the rest of the “Friends” cast continue to earn $20 million a year from residual income from the series.

“Because Phoebe Buffay was so great?” Kudrow jokingly guessed why the dollar amount was so high, referencing her character on the series.

“Friends” first premiered in September 1994 and was an immediate hit, reportedly reaching 25 million viewers each week.

Kudrow shared that the “Friends” cast still receives a balance of $20 million each year. (Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty Images for HBO Max)

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Despite its popularity, Kudrow said she had never watched the series and wanted to watch it after her former co-star Matthew Perry died in October 2023.

“Before, I was just seeing what I was doing wrong or what I could do better,” he explained. “But for the first time I really appreciated how amazing it was. I felt like I did a good job, but Jennifer and Courteney? Great. David and Matt? They made me laugh so hard. And then Matthew, he outdid us all.”

Kudrow previously told The Hollywood Reporter in June 2024 about what it was like for her to watch Perry on screen as Chandler Bing.

She explained that watching it was a way to “celebrate how funny she was”, adding that she was “uniquely funny” and “that’s what I want to remember”. [about him]”

Starring Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, and David Schwimmer as Ross Geller.

Kudrow wants to remember Matthew Perry as the funny guy on “Friends.” (NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images)

“You laugh in between scenes all day long because these are funny people,” Kudrow said. “And especially someone like Matthew, the goal was: How many times can I laugh every day in real life? So we were always laughing so hard we had tears streaming down our faces.”

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Speaking to The Times, Kudrow talked about the idea that the series was able to “capture a kind of innocence” that existed in the past that “the younger generation could never experience” without social media, smartphones or laptops.

Despite this, Kudrow assures her fans that things behind the scenes are not as innocent as they seem.

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“Remember, we were recording in front of a live audience of 400 people, and if you messed up one of these writers’ lines or didn’t get a perfect response, they might think, ‘Can’t this guy fucking read? He’s not even trying. He messed up my line,'” he said. “And we know the men in the room would stay up late discussing their sexual fantasies about Jennifer and Courteney. It was intense.”