Conan O'Brien Recalls Being 'Jealous' After Ex Lisa Kudrow Praised Matthew Perry While Filming Friends

Conan O'Brien is recalling a moment of jealousy when ex Lisa Kudrow praised her Friends costar Matthew Perry.

On the latest episode of his podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, Kudrow, 60, told the comedian that she recently started being able to watch Friends again following the death of Perry, who died at age 54 in October 2023.

“I used to not be able to watch it at all,” she explained. “I mean, I'd see it on and be mildly interested, and then I'd see me and say, that's enough of that. I can't bear it. And then well, listen. After Matthew died, I could start watching the show again because it wasn't about me. It had to do with him for some reason.”

“And so I have started watching Friends. Not started like season 1 ... But there are marathons on, and I have spent, at times, since he died all day long watching the show,” she continued.

She called the entire cast — which also includes Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer — “phenomenally hilarious.”

However, O’Brien recalled that Kudrow — whom he dated from 1988 to 1993 — was impressed by Perry’s comedic chops during the early days of filming the hit NBC sitcom, which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004.

“You called me up, and you were raving about ... ” O’Brien shared as Kudrow interjected, “Matthew.”

“Yes. And you were saying, he's so funny ... There was part of me that was jealous,” he shared. “Like, I was okay. I make you laugh pretty hard, and you were like, 'No, you don't understand. This guy's really [funny].' "

O’Brien agreed with Kudrow’s take after watching Perry on Friends but the actress insisted that the former late-night host was still “one of the funniest people I know.”

Any jealous feelings were long forgotten when O'Brien attended Kudrow's wedding to Michel Stern in 1995. O'Brien later married his wife, Liza Powel O'Brien, in 2002.

Kudrow went on to praise Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the show. 

“He was such a huge [talent]. I thought that Chandler character, when I read it, I went, ‘Oh, they have a gay character, that’s good,' " she recalled. "And so at the table read, I just did a double take at him. Oh my god. That I never even in a million years could have envisioned anyone playing the character like that and with his own rhythm and everything. It's his own.”

“Impeccable timing,” O’Brien added.

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Kudrow told The Hollywood Reporter last month that rewatching Friends in the wake of Perry’s death is a way of "celebrating how hilarious he was."

"Honestly, I wasn’t able to watch it because it’s too embarrassing to watch yourself. But if I make it about Matthew, then that’s okay," she continued.

As she watches, she said she's "laughing out loud" at how "hilarious" the cast is.

"I’m blown away by Courteney Cox. I’m blown away by Jen [Aniston]. Matthew, obviously, is just uniquely hilarious. No one ever knew that cadence or comedic rhythm before him," she raved. "Matt LeBlanc is hilarious. And David Schwimmer, too. Sometimes I even laugh at what I’ve done."

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Perry's standout humor is "what I want to remember," Kudrow told The Hollywood Reporter.

Reflecting on what the dynamic was like on set, she continued, "You’re just laughing all day long, basically, in between the scenes, because these are funny people. And especially someone like Matthew, whose goal was: How many laughs can I get in real life every day? So we were always laughing so hard, tears were flying out of our faces."

Kudrow's next series, Time Bandits, debuts on Apple TV+ on July 24.