Lisa Kudrow on Reuniting with Writer/Director Don Roos: “It was the same. That was the happy surprise, that now that we’re so much closer than we were when we were shooting ‘Opposite of Sex,’ we had just met, that it was the exact same fun dynamic and the friendship didn’t interfere in any way.”
On Her Reaction to Having the Character Written Specifically for Her: Kudrow knew what Don Roos was doing so it wasn’t a big surprise when he announced he was writing a part specifically for her in “Happy Endings.”
“He was working on a script and I would get like, ‘Yes, there’s a part for you.’ And I didn’t care if it was just a featured extra or a part. Then when he was done to his point of satisfaction, he let me read it. And then it fell apart four times before it got made. So it wasn’t like, ‘I have something for you…’ because there was also in my mind, I know the way studios are - even for independent films. They still need a certain caliber of cast in order to get the film made and I can’t guarantee money back for a studio. So I knew that just because Don wanted me to play it didn’t mean that I’d get to.”
Lisa Kudrow on Working with Steve Coogan: “Oh, Steve’s great. He’s very funny and a really good actor. We didn’t get to have that many scenes together even though our stories were so connected. We had moments together. Yes, we had scenes together surely but just not that many. I spent most of my time with Jesse [Bradford] and Bobby [Cannavale].”
Lessons Learned from Working with Don Roos: Now that Kudrow’s a co-writer of a weekly TV series, "The Comeback," was there anything she took from Roos and applied to her own writing? “Yeah, Don has this system when he’s writing. It’s an hour a day, or just hour blocks of time. No matter what, you’re writing. If you want to break off and journal or go back to it [you can], so I tried that,” said Kudrow, adding, “I don't know that Don has anything other than that. I don't know that he has some technique for characters... He’s inspired. He’s got a gift and he’s inspired.”
On Being Cast as a Ditz: “Because I’d played dumbasses a lot. On ‘Mad About You’ I played a very dumb waitress and they saw me.”
On Her Motivation to Keep on Working: “I love what I do and I wanted to try writing, so that was also the opportunity with ‘The Comeback’ and to write with Michael Patrick King.”
Does She Want to Continue Doing Television?: “I don't know. I like doing ‘The Comeback.’ One fantasy is that I just do a Don Roos movie every year if that’s possible. If he’d have me.”
