During a recent episode of the YouTube series Hiking With Kevin, Kudrow recalled the difficulties she faced in playing the fan-favourite character during the show’s early seasons. “I had played dumb girls, sure. But it wasn’t really me. 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,” she told the host, Kevin Nealon.
“I was struggling so much 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***ing 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,” Kudrow said.