Craig Robinson Looks Back on his 2004 "Friends" Role - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

JamesG · 05-25-2026, 01:49 PM

Craig Robinson Shares how Lisa Kudrow Spoke Up for Him on "Friends" Set
by Ryan Coleman
May 25, 2026

Lisa Kudrow really will be there for you. Craig Robinson learned that lesson in a memorable way while shooting a scene for a tenth season episode of "Friends". He appears in a brief scene in the final season's 14th episode 'The One with Princess Consuela'.

Back in 2004, Robinson only had a few credits to his name, from single-episode spots on series like "LAX" and "The Bernie Mac Show", to a role on the short-lived FX comedy "Lucky". Then came an opportunity to play opposite Kudrow, who had become one of TV's biggest stars after 10 years on the beloved sitcom.

"I ended up working with Lisa later. We played a married couple in Table 19, actually. So we got real cool," Robinson tells Entertainment Weekly. "But back then, it was pretty much one scene, there really wasn't much else. We rehearsed it twice and then they did a pitch, and Lisa was cool enough to speak up for me."

In 'The One with Princess Consuela', Kudrow's Phoebe Buffay goes to get her name changed following her marriage to Paul Rudd's Mike Hannigan. She gets off on the wrong foot with Robinson's clerk when she loudly observes, "This place is so depressing. If I worked here I'd kill myself."

Robinson explained that while shooting his scene with Kudrow, the cast and creative crew began throwing out ideas to fine-tune the actors' back and forth. "I had thrown out a line that she heard, but nobody else heard it. She was like, 'We have a pitch!'" So Robinson got to say his line, "and she got to react to it. But that was because of her, because I was just in there like, 'I'm a freaking friend! What are you talking about?'"

"What's crazy about that audition is, I went early, and it was like 14 white guys dressed like limo drivers. I walked in and I was like, 'Okay, I think I'm too early,'" Robinson recalled.

But he won the role, good news he still recalls receiving. "That was a sweet moment too, to find that out, when you're out there in Hollywood trying to make it."

https://ew.com/craig-robinson-shares...s-set-11973451

05-25-2026, 01:49 PM	#1
JamesG Freakshow Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 01, 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 57,026	Craig Robinson Looks Back on his 2004 "Friends" Role *Craig Robinson Shares how Lisa Kudrow Spoke Up for Him on "Friends" Set* by Ryan Coleman May 25, 2026 Lisa Kudrow really will be there for you. Craig Robinson learned that lesson in a memorable way while shooting a scene for a tenth season episode of "Friends". He appears in a brief scene in the final season's 14th episode 'The One with Princess Consuela'. Back in 2004, Robinson only had a few credits to his name, from single-episode spots on series like "LAX" and "The Bernie Mac Show", to a role on the short-lived FX comedy "Lucky". Then came an opportunity to play opposite Kudrow, who had become one of TV's biggest stars after 10 years on the beloved sitcom. "I ended up working with Lisa later. We played a married couple in Table 19, actually. So we got real cool," Robinson tells Entertainment Weekly. "But back then, it was pretty much one scene, there really wasn't much else. We rehearsed it twice and then they did a pitch, and Lisa was cool enough to speak up for me." In 'The One with Princess Consuela', Kudrow's Phoebe Buffay goes to get her name changed following her marriage to Paul Rudd's Mike Hannigan. She gets off on the wrong foot with Robinson's clerk when she loudly observes, "This place is so depressing. If I worked here I'd kill myself." Robinson explained that while shooting his scene with Kudrow, the cast and creative crew began throwing out ideas to fine-tune the actors' back and forth. "I had thrown out a line that she heard, but nobody else heard it. She was like, 'We have a pitch!'" So Robinson got to say his line, "and she got to react to it. But that was because of her, because I was just in there like, 'I'm a freaking friend! What are you talking about?'" "What's crazy about that audition is, I went early, and it was like 14 white guys dressed like limo drivers. I walked in and I was like, 'Okay, I think I'm too early,'" Robinson recalled. But he won the role, good news he still recalls receiving. "That was a sweet moment too, to find that out, when you're out there in Hollywood trying to make it." https://ew.com/craig-robinson-shares...s-set-11973451 Attached Images