It took a few years, but Lisa Kudrow’s son Julian Stern finally got around to watching “Friends”.
The 24-year-old decided to dig into the NBC series that made his mom famous after coming down with COVID-19, which was a “thrilling” experience for Kudrow. “He called me up and said, ‘So I just watched the first two episodes. It’s really good, Mom,'” Lisa shared on Late Night With Seth Meyers. “I said, ‘Thanks.’ He said, ‘Can I ask you some questions about that?’ I’m like, ‘Yes!’ I almost started crying. I didn’t think that anyone in my family liked that show.”
Kudrow’s past role as “Phoebe Buffay” is arguably her most popular, so it was nice to bond with her son over the character. But this special moment was slightly diminished when Julian said, “It’s actually really funny and the guys are so funny.”
Clearly, Kudrow was offended, as “Phoebe” was arguably one of the most hilarious characters on the show. “He’s like, ‘No, I mean, you’re funny too,” she remembered. “And never in my life have I wanted to tell my own kid, ‘F–k you.'”
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Of course, she didn’t actually tell him that, but she really wanted to. As Seth Meyers put it, “The difference between a good parent and a bad parent is, do you say it?”
Kudrow added that Julian doesn’t have to be a fan of everything she does, “but don’t be so demeaning.”
Despite the backhanded compliment, Kudrow remains one of his biggest fans. When he graduated from the University of Southern California in May 2021, she proudly shared a photo of them at the ceremony, which she captioned, “Happy proud HAPPY. And a little crying. By me not him..”
Julian is now pursuing a career in acting, so it seems like he’s a bigger fan of his mom than he let on.
(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)
