Lisa Kudrow Credits ‘Friends’ Costar Matt Leblanc for Rescuing Her Character: ‘He Was Right’

Now that the 25th anniversary of the Friends premiere is just around the corner, brand new information is being revealed from the set — including how Matt LeBlanc actually saved his costar Lisa Kudrow‘s character.

During an appearance on comedian Kevin Nealon‘s YouTube series Hiking With Kevin, Lisa, 56, revealed just how difficult it was to really connect to Phoebe Buffay, her iconic character on the NBC sitcom. “I had played dumb girls, sure. But it wasn’t really me,” the actress shared. “I feel like s–t, I tricked them. At the audition, I was the only one who could cope with the audition process and that’s how I got it, I think. So I had to work hard at being Phoebe, you know.”

However, things changed when the Golden Globe winner, 52, offered some advice during the third season of the program. “I was struggling so much,” Lisa recalled. “And Leblanc was like, ‘What’s going on with you?’ And I said, ‘I can’t, I don’t think I have it, I mean, I don’t know what I’m doing.’ And he went, ‘You’re her, relax, you got it. You’ve been doing this f–king character for three years. You’re working too hard. That’s your problem. You don’t need to work this hard. Relax.’ He was right.”

Lisa and Matt starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry on the comedy that aired its final episode in 2004. This isn’t the first time that The Comeback alum has opened up about a personal moment while on the program — she once revealed she had body issues during Friends‘ peak.

“You see yourself on TV and it’s that, ‘Oh, my God, I’m just a mountain of a girl,'” the Booksmart costar admitted in an interview with standup comedian Marc Maron on his WTF podcast. Lisa also confessed to comparing herself to her two other female costars. “I’m already bigger than [them] — bigger, like my bones feel bigger. I just felt like this mountain of a woman next to them.” Today, she has learned to have a more positive outlook on things.

“I have a whole battle all the time,” Lisa explained. “I end up with, ‘So what? So, alright. You’re older. That’s a good thing. Why is that a bad thing?’”

Sounds like Lisa has come a long way!