Lisa Kudrow may have hated filming the opening credits sequence for “ Friends ” even more than hearing the studio audience laugh too long. On Monday’s episode of the “ Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend ” podcast, the actor reminisced about the late Matthew Perry , spurring Kudrow to tell a hilarious and bittersweet story about her former co-star — and how their show’s now-iconic opening could be viewed as an homage to Perry. “Honest to God, shooting those titles in the fountain was a nightmare,” Kudrow said.
The “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion” star went on to explain that the series’ intro was filmed late at night when the water in the fountain was extremely cold. “We’d done, I think, 500 takes of dancing,” Kudrow said, describing it as “unmotivated.” Noting that she doesn’t like any kind of “discomfort, at all,” she remembered getting pretty cranky toward the end of the shoot, snapping at crew members who suggested she play with a scarf.
“I was a real joy,” Kudrow said, poking fun at herself. “And it was so cold, and we had to keep doing it,” Kudrow recalled. “They said, ‘We’re going to do one more take.
’ And he [Perry] said: ‘One more? OK. Can’t remember a time I wasn’t in a fountain.’” Kudrow continued to imitate Perry, mimicking his unique cadence when he cracked jokes.
“Seriously. Can’t remember a time I wasn’t wet,” Kudrow recalled Perry snarking. “What, are we wet? In a fountain? What, .