I thought Friends' Phoebe and Ursula were just a typical double casting, but it turned out to be a crossover between two shows
It has been more than 20 years since the last episode of the American television sitcom Friends was aired. Several other sitcoms have been released after that, creating a dedicated fan base for themselves. However, nothing has come as close to reaching the popularity this show achieved and continues to do so even today.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the opinions of the author.
For a Friends fan like me, it is very normal to be a part of several social media threads discussing the show's plot points and possible character theories. Most recently, something that I came across and did not know before involves Phoebe and Ursula's characters.
As it turns out, casting Ursula and Phoebe as identical twin sisters was a strategic move by the show's makers. During the time when Lisa Kudrow started appearing as Phoebe Buffay on Friends, she was also associated with another popular sitcom, Mad About You. In the show, Kudrow's character was named Ursula.
Therefore, rather than recasting Phoebe's role in Friends, the makers decided to adopt Ursula's character from Mad About You, so that the audiences could relate to both characters at the same time.
Ursula and Phoebe's characters in Friends were part of a crossover between two shows
As previously mentioned, Ursula's character was introduced in Friends as Phoebe's identical twin sister to prevent confusion regarding the role Lisa Kudrow was playing in Mad About You.
In Mad About You, Kudrow was playing Ursula Buffay, an absent-minded waitress. Around the same time, she started portraying Phoebe Buffay, a strong-willed masseuse and musician on Friends.
Since sitcoms have a stronger level of audience association and engagement involved, I believe the makers thought it was best that they merge the universes of both shows in which the actress played different characters. When I learned about this, I was genuinely impressed by the intelligence of the people involved with the show. They had the opportunity to create something iconic, and they seized it.
Lisa Kudrow's elder sister was a body double for several of the scenes involving Ursula in Friends
In addition to learning that Ursula's character was taken from another character Lisa Kudrow was playing during the time, I also learnt another fact. Kudrow's sister served as body double for several scenes in which the Buffay sisters were present in the same frame.
Lisa's sister, Helene Marla Kudrow, was the stand-in for both Ursula and Phoebe in the show. Therefore, every time the show required Ursula and Phoebe to interact, one character was portrayed by Helene while the other was played by Lisa.
Since Helene is not Lisa's identical twin, only Lisa's face was used for both characters. Therefore, all the back-facing and side-facing scenes involving either character featured Helene.
That being said, Lisa Kudrow was not a huge fan of filming scenes involving both Phoebe and Ursula. The same was revealed by contributing director Kevin S. Bright during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
"Lisa really did not have a good time doing them. She did not like acting with a double, and in a way she might have made it more difficult for herself because her double was her actual sister, [Helena]," he said.
He also mentioned:
"I think feeling the [stress] she put her sister into by being the double was more in her head at the time, so those scenes were a little bit tricky to shoot. But it ended up being a lot of fun when you put it together."
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