The cast of Friends may have been some of the most recognizable faces on television, but even at the height of the sitcom’s fame, Lisa Kudrow says at least one fan had absolutely no idea who she was.
The actress, who played the delightfully eccentric Phoebe Buffay for the show’s entire 10-year run, revealed this week that a restaurant hostess once confidently mistook her for a completely different celebrity—and the mix-up left her more baffled than offended.
Speaking at The Hollywood Reporter’s comedy actress roundtable, the panel was asked to share their strangest fan encounters.
Kudrow didn’t hesitate.
“I have my favorite,” she said. “It was during Friends, and I was going to Jerry’s Deli or something and the hostess had an accent. She was from somewhere in Eastern Europe and just went [whispering], “I know who you are.”
The 62-year-old admitted she was initially flattered.
“I went, ‘Aw, yeah.’ And she said, ‘You are Dionne Warwick.’”
The actress immediately shut it down.
“‘No, I’m not. I am not.’”
Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson, 36, delivered a quick “No” in response to the jarring comparison of Kudrow to the six-time Grammy Award-winning singer.
But for Kudrow, the strangest part wasn’t being mistaken for someone else—it was being mistaken for that someone else.
“I kind of felt this, ‘She doesn’t know who I am?’ And then it was, wait… Dionne Warwick?”
Fellow panelist Keke Palmer, 32, leaned into the absurdity.
“Girl, if you’re Dionne Warwick, I’m Stevie Nicks,” Palmer joked before breaking into song.
The bizarre case of mistaken identity came while Kudrow was starring on one of the biggest television shows in the world. During its decade-long run, Friends turned its six leads into household names, who still rake in a reported $20 million in residuals more than 20 years after its conclusion.
By the show’s final seasons, Kudrow and her co-stars—Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, and Jennifer Aniston—were reportedly earning $1 million an episode, a staggering jump from the $22,500 they received during the show’s first season in 1994, according to Page Six.
The sitcom routinely drew around 25 million viewers each week, while its 2004 series finale attracted more than 52 million viewers.
Yet despite the show’s massive success, Kudrow recently revealed she often felt overlooked during its run.
In an April interview with The Independent, she said she sometimes felt like “nobody cared” about her and claimed her talent agency referred to her as “the sixth Friend.”
The actress, who currently stars in the third season of HBO’s The Comeback, was asked about those comments again during the roundtable.
Kudrow, who was the only Friends cast member to have won an Emmy at that point, said she never paid much attention to the industry chatter.
She instead pointed out that she was landing major film roles throughout the show’s run, including working with Albert Brooks after the first season and later starring in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and Clockwatchers after Season 2 wrapped.
“I just thought it doesn’t matter, does it, what does anyone think?” Kudrow added. “I have to do what I do.”
