Lisa Kudrow, Star of ’90s Hit Show “Friends”, Reveals How She “Really” Feels About Nostalgia Tied to That Decade (Exclusive)

Lexi Lane, Kristen O'BrienSun, March 22, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC

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Lisa Kudrow on March 15, 2026Credit: Erika Goldring/Getty -

Lisa Kudrow reflected on the ’90s resurgence and cautioned against misinterpreting history without firsthand experience

The Friends alum shared her thoughts during the world premiere of The Comeback season 3 at SXSW on March 15

“Unless you were there ... you don't really know," she said

Lisa Kudrow, who played a significant role in defining the 1990s as part of the hit sitcom Friends, has mixed thoughts about nostalgia for that decade.

Speaking with PEOPLE in an exclusive interview during the premiere of her latest project, The Comeback season 3, at SXSW in Austin, Texas, on March 15, the actress, 62, revealed her thoughts on the ongoing ’90s resurgence.

“Oh, well, the first part, that younger people are interested, I mean it happens every 20 to 30 years anyway, so yeah, it's time,” Kudrow said.

“But it also reminds me of the misinterpretation or the interpretation of history, it's really, it's not reliable reporting and I think should remind us unless you were there, you don't, you don't really know," she added.

Kudrow famously played singer-songwriter Phoebe Buffay on Friends from 1994 to 2004, alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and the late Matthew Perry.

The cast reunited for HBO Max's Friends: The Reunion special in 2021, where they returned to recreated sets of the show and discussed their memories of filming.

From right: Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc during the ‘Friends: The Reunion’ special (2021)Credit: Terence Patrick/HBO Max

"It's funny, when we do get together, it's like no time has passed," LeBlanc, 58, told PEOPLE at the time. "We pick up right where we left off."

"It was kind of melancholy, I guess. Right?" he added, to which Kudrow replied, "Yeah, emotional."

She also thought about where her character Phoebe would be, deciding that she "is living in Connecticut with Mike (Paul Rudd) and their kids, and she's in charge of the arts program for the school" and "the advocate for her kids because they're different like she was."

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Now, Kudrow is reprising her role as sitcom actress Valerie Cherish on HBO's The Comeback. The show premiered in 2005, but was canceled after the first season. It was then revived for a second season in 2014.

Now, over a decade later, the third season finds Valerie in the modern world of show business and navigating new technology. The new episodes kick off during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023, as then-SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher tells everyone, "AI is coming after all of us."

Valerie is also trying to understand social media to boost her career, relying on the help of her younger social media manager Patience (Ella Stiller), according to Mashable.

From left: John Melfi, Damian Young, Dan Bucatinsky, Lisa Kudrow, Jack O’Brien, Ella Stiller, Laura Silverman and Michael Patrick King at the ‘The Comeback’ season 3 premiere on March 15, 2026Credit: Erika Goldring/Getty

Dan Bucatinsky, Laura Silverman, Damian Young and Tim Bagley will be returning as cast members, along with new faces like Andrew Scott and Abbi Jacobson, in what is possibly the final comeback that The Comeback makes.

“We need to say ‘third and final,’ ” Kudrow told The Hollywood Reporter about the show's future. “I don’t know if I’ll want to do it again in 10 years, so let’s be done, that way no one is asking what’s next or whether we will even want to do more."

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"The most respectful thing we can do for the audience and for the character is make it a three-part story. It’s a trilogy, and this is the end," she added.

The Comeback season 3 premieres March 22 at 10:30 p.m. ET.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”