Lisa Kudrow on How Getting Fired from “Frasier ”Led to Her Iconic “Friends” Role

"I think they were just correcting a mistake," Kudrow said of being replaced by Peri Gilpin in the 'Frasier' pilot

Lisa Kudrow opened up about the “devastating” experience of being fired from Frasier before the hit NBC sitcom ever filmed a single scene — and how it led to her career-making role in Friends.

The Comeback star has been making the rounds promoting her latest series, AppleTV+’s Time Bandits, and stopped by the Smartless podcast to discuss her career with hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett.

Kudrow, 61, explained that she first met Emmy-winning TV director James “Jimmy” Burrows — who would go on to direct the pilot episodes of both Frasier and Friends — when she guest-starred on a 1989 episode of Cheers.

“So, when you went to audition for [Friends], he was already very familiar with you and loved you evidently,” Arnett said.

“Well, he was familiar enough that, you know, I got fired from the last thing,” Kudrow joked.

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The last thing, of course, was Frasier. Kudrow was famously originally cast in the role of Roz, the hardnosed, no-nonsense producer of Frasier Crane’s (Kelsey Grammer) radio show, but was replaced by Peri Gilpin before the show’s pilot episode filmed.

“It was devastating to get fired,” Kudrow admitted.

“It just wasn’t working, I don’t know,” she explained when asked to recall why she was let go during the Frasier pilot’s early run-throughs. “Jimmy was saying, like, ‘This isn't working.’ ”

“I think they did make a casting mistake with me,” Kudrow continued, explaining that she and Gilpin had both auditioned for the role. “So, I think they were just correcting a mistake.”

“Peri should've always been Roz, you know?” she added.

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Kudrow went on to land a recurring role as absentminded, abrasive waitress Ursula on NBC’s Mad About You, which, she told the Smartless hosts, changed everything for her. She explained that Friends co-creator David Crane’s partner, Mad About You writer Jeffrey Klarik, suggested her for the role of Phoebe Buffay on the strength of her performance as Ursula.

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Kudrow noted that she was the only Friends cast member who had to audition for Burrows, who was directing the show’s pilot, “because I had just gotten fired from Frasier.”

“When I auditioned, it's just this small room. He's sitting at a desk. I'm in a chair, and the audition was like a little monologue thing,” she recalled. “And when I'm done, he just went, ‘No notes.’ ”

Kudrow, of course, landed the role of Phoebe, earning six Emmy nominations and one win for her work. She also went on to reprise her Mad About You character on the show, portraying Ursula as Phoebe’s “evil” twin sister.

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