Phoebe Buffay is the quirky-but-lovable member of the Friends crew. She happily plays her guitar at Central Perk and makes her friends uncomfortable with her endearing randomness. She is content in her career as a masseuse and never lusts for material things. But there is more to Phoebe than meets the eye.
She is the most mysterious one in the group with her wild tales of living in Prague, being a homeless teenager, and at some point rooming with an albino man. There are a lot of things about this strange character fans do not know. Here are the 10 facts even diehard fans didn’t know about Phoebe Buffay:
Originally Written as a Supporting Character
When Friends was first in creation, the plan was for the show to focus on Monica, Joey, Ross, and Rachel with Monica and Joey originally set to be the main love interest of the show. That means Phoebe and Chandler were only going to be supporting characters that would occasionally show up. Thankfully the writers changed their minds and made Phoebe and Chandler just as important as the other friends. Friends would not have been the same without Phoebe’s quirkiness and Chandler’s sarcasm. Where would fans be without Phoebe’s uncomfortable moments of truth?
Lisa Kudrow Hated the Guitar
Playing wacky songs with her guitar is a signature Phoebe trademark. But if it was up to Lisa Kudrow Phoebe would have been jamming on bongo drums. Phoebe is not exactly a talented guitarist and that’s because Lisa is also not a guitar player.
She confessed she did not the like guitar since she had such a hard time learning how to play it and she actually pitched the idea of the bongo drums to the creators. They were committed to the guitar, though, and even brought in a guitar teacher to help her out. Lisa ultimately decided that Phoebe would only know a couple of cords, but luckily they were the chords needed for Smelly Cat.
Phoebe Wrote 55 Songs
Phoebe was a true artist, having written a total of 55 songs throughout Friends’ 10 season run. The most memorable ones are of course Smelly Cat, The Cow in the Meadow Goes Moo, Ross Can, and Sticky Shoes. She had other great tunes though, such as Pepper People, The Blackout Song, Suicide and a Snowman, and Crusty Old Man. While her songs may not be masterpieces, they were always entertaining with the shocking truth they told and the hilarious manner they were sung in. Phoebe was consistently true to her strange self, as a genuine artist should be.
Lisa Kudrow was Afraid of the Duck
While Phoebe is a friend to all animals as a vegetarian and defender of pigeons, Lisa Kudrow does not have the same comfort level around feathered friends. Kudrow has a slight fear of birds and was especially scared Joey and Chandler’s duck.
She would avoid the duck as much as she could and was relieved when the birds became less significant and ultimately left the show. The birds were said to have died of old age even though the group told Joey they went to live on a special farm to spare his feelings.
Lisa Kudrow is Jewish
Phoebe is definitely not the traditionally religious one in the group, often talking about spirituality and reincarnation. At one point she believed her mom had been reincarnated as a cat. While Ross, Rachel, and Monica are the only main characters who are Jewish on the show, Lisa Kudrow is Jewish in real life, as is David Schwimmer. She lost family members in the Holocaust, dealt with antisemitism when she attended college and got a nose job at 16 years old, which was common among Jewish teens. She has even spoken out about antisemitism as she knows first-hand the pain this can cause.
Phoebe was Gifted a Key Chain From Sesame Street
When Phoebe’s mother committed suicide, she was obviously devastated. We learned in season 5, episode 4 “The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS,” that after she found out about her mom, she wrote to Sesame Street since they had always been a comfort to her as a kid. No one ever wrote back to her and all she got was a boring key chain. By the time she got the key chain from her once adored Muppets, she was homeless and therefore didn’t have keys for her key chain. This made her despise PBS from then on.
Lisa Kudrow has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology
While Phoebe was unable to graduate high school and definitely never attended a college, Lisa Kudrow has her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology from Vassar College. Phoebe makes it crystal clear throughout the show that she is not a fan of science, often debating scientific matters with Ross. In real life, Kudrow is more Ross like than David Schwimmer is with her schooling. She even worked in her father’s lab for eight years studying headaches before she made it as an actress. Kudrow still goes to Vassar for trustee meetings.
Lisa Kudrow was Pregnant in Real Life During Friends
Phoebe won the best sister of the year award when she agreed to be the surrogate for her little brother, Frank, and his wife, Alice, in season 4. This plot twist was written in as Lisa Kudrow became pregnant in real life with her only son, Julian.
Even though Kudrow was pregnant, they still had to pad her stomach as it wasn’t big enough to be carrying triplets. Kudrow also had her son before the triplets were due so she still had to tote around the belly padding even after she gave birth in real life.
Phoebe had 16 Love Interests
While Joey is the resident casual dater on Friends, with a total of 17 love interests, Phoebe is not far behind. Throughout the 10 seasons, Phoebe had 16 love interests. Only a select few appeared in more than a couple of episodes, as most were just for fun. Through all of this trial and error dating, she eventually found Mike, the man she would marry, in season 9. The couple was married during season 10. The episode aired two days before Valentine’s Day in 2004. Phoebe fans were giddy with excitement as they watched their favorite Friends member finally get her happy ending.
Phoebe was Originally Supposed to Be with David
Every fan cried for Phoebe as she and David shared their heartbreaking goodbye. At the time when David first appeared most fans thought he and Phoebe would end up together, and that was the original plan. Until Paul Rudd’s Mike came strolling in. Paul Rudd was so charming and adorable, the creators of the show decided to keep him on as Phoebe’s last love. Hank Azaria, the actor who played David, admitted it did sting a little bit when he found out David had been replaced by Mike. There is still debate between fans on if Phoebe should have married Mike, but she did look stunning in her wedding gown.
