Lisa Kudrow Recalls 'Jarring' Body Image Experience On 'Friends'

Lisa Kudrow says her perception of her body changed when she started working on Friends. In a podcast interview from earlier this year unearthed by People, the actress opened up about how her co-stars Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston prompted the change.

"I thought I was just really skinny. I can do whatever, [but] no, especially in high school. And I look at pictures and say, 'Wow, pictures really distort reality,'" Kudrow shared in an August episode of Podcrushed. "And it wasn't until Friends that I realized, 'Oh, I don't look like I thought I looked. And that's what was so jarring, and that's when it was like, 'Oh, I've got to actually lose weight? I have to diet? Shoot."

Kudrow elaborated on the realization. "It was just seeing myself on the show and seeing myself in clothes and seeing Courteney and Jennifer in clothes... And at first I thought, 'Oh, because they know, like, tailoring, so they can discuss it with the costume designer about where, exactly, to take something in."

However, Kudrow said the closer they became, adding they were like "sisters," she eventually asked one of them to come to her fittings. "That's when I would see, 'Oh, okay, it's not just about tailoring…' And I'm not trying to say I was overweight, either. I was not. I just had no idea the shape of my actual body."

The realization didn't necessarily have negative connotations though. "I just realized, 'Oh no — it's okay. This is just what I look like. That's okay. Do what you need to do to be healthy but this is your body and it's okay."