Lisa Kudrow admits it 'took work' to build real friendships with her Friends co-stars

Whether you can quote every episode or you've sporadically enjoyed re-runs on the TV, Friends is undoubtedly one of the most popular - and beloved - sitcoms in the world. The show, which started in 1994 and ran for a decade, launched the careers of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and the late Matthew Perry.

And while the cast has remained real friends since the show ended, Lisa Kudrow has opened up about what it took to build solid, healthy relationships with one another in real life.

In a podcast episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, she explained that mastering 'respectful communication' was important for them all, and emphasised that all the actors 'really did get along'. She said: "We also worked hard at being friends. That six-way relationship took some work and we did it."

Lisa also added that she 'had to learn to be' more direct if something was bothering her, saying: "If someone said something or did something, it didn't get too big because it was like, 'Can I talk to you?'... I never knew that was allowed. But I saw it modelled really well by Courteney and Jennifer and Matt."

In the past, Matt Le Blanc shared that Friends director James Burrows had 'encouraged [them to] all get along and get to know one another and be kind to one another.' Lisa confirmed that the director had even given the stars his dressing room so that they could 'connect', saying: "I think it was sort of unspoken, but we instinctively felt like we need to be friends, we need to get along, we need to connect. And so we started playing poker and Jimmy gave us his room so that we can have a bigger hangout room for us."

She also added that she's still happy to discuss Friends and her experience on the show, thirty years after it first aired, saying: "It's a blessing. I'm too grateful."