Apart from being sharp-witted and eccentric, Phoebe Buffay is first and foremost a devoted friend, both in real life and in the boundaries of a sitcom. Lisa Kudrow, who received six Emmy nods, including one win, for her performance, made Phoebe one of the most beloved figures from the show. She even becomes a surrogate for her brother and his wife, Alice.
But this wasn’t the lone instance of Phoebe helping out Alice, as similar was the case offscreen when Debra Jo Rupp’s mother fell sick.
Lisa Kudrow helped out Debra Jo Rupp with the latter’s mother
Given Lisa Kudrow‘s demeanor toward her friends in real life, it’s no surprise that she ended up scoring five Emmy nods for playing Phoebe, as both excel when it comes to being a true companion. Although Debra Jo Rupp‘s Alice was originally supposed to star in one episode, her brief stint in the revered sitcom got extended to six.
However, considering the Friends cast was accused of being a tight little group, Rupp didn’t exactly grow close with most of the cast, excluding Lisa Kudrow, who came to the former’s assistance after Rupp’s mother “was diagnosed with a very fast-moving Parkinson’s”. Kudrow, who originally aspired to be a neurologist like her sibling and father, facilitated her co-star into her brother’s office with her mom (via EW).
Around this time, my mother was diagnosed with a very fast-moving Parkinson’s. She was living in Florida and it got to the point where I had move her in to stay with me. Lisa Kudrow’s brother is a neurologist in Santa Monica and she facilitated getting me into his office with my mom. Basically, they kept my mom alive. It was just pretty amazing. Lisa did it because Lisa is just who Lisa is—just a kind person.
This further explains her brilliance in the shoes of Phoebe, as past her quirky behavior, Kudrow’s Friends counterpart perfectly encapsulated her kind-hearted demeanor.
Lisa Kudrow’s costar reaffirmed her faith in herself
Phoebe wasn’t the only one who was dishing out help to her co-stars. Despite nailing the audition and being in the show for three years, Kudrow still struggled with Phoebe, stressing, “I was struggling so much”. Matt Leblanc was the first to notice her scuffle with the character, gave her one simple advice, urging Kudrow to take it easy on herself (via Stylist).
Le Blanc was like, ‘What’s going on with you?’ And I said, ‘I can’t, I don’t think I have it. I don’t know what I’m doing.’
Relaxing a bit did change the course of her Friends stint, as Leblanc’s words reaffirmed Kudrow’s faith in herself, and the rest is history.
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