Lisa Kudrow has opened up about what it was like dating Conan O’Brien after being friends for eight years, calling it a “weird blip.”
The Friends actor and the former The Tonight Show host dated briefly after first meeting in an improv class taught by Cynthia Seghetti at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles. The two remain friends to this day, with O’Brien going on to wed Liza Powel O’Brien in 2002 and Kudrow marrying Michel Stern in 1995.
During an appearance on Armchair Expert, a podcast hosted by Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, Kudrow said she made a “beeline” for the comedian after one of their improv classes. When Kudrow told the hosts that she introduced herself to O’Brien, Shepard joked that she said, “We’re going to date shortly.” Padman added, “Pretty soon we will be dating.”
Kudrow clarified that’s not exactly how it happened, as the pair were “best friends” for eight years before they began dating, which lasted only three months.
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“That’s an ill-fated plan,” Shepard said, to which Kudrow responded, “It worked out.”
Shepard continued, “Well, clearly, but not in a romantic sense.” He added: “I’m only saying if you’ve been friends with someone for eight years, I always have a hard time understanding that transition into dating.”
“Obviously, there’s probably success stories,” Shepard said, adding: “That’s an interesting transition after eight years. Like generally, your first kiss is quite exciting whereas—opposed to, like, ‘we’ve been hanging for eight years; now we’re kissing’ feels a little bit awkward.”
Kudrow disagreed, saying it was “still exciting.” She added, “It’s a completely different relationship, and we’re better as friends, so that was just a weird blip.”
Newsweek contacted spokespeople for Kudrow and O’Brien for comment via email on Tuesday outside normal business hours.
The actor also said she had planned to quit the improv class before meeting O’Brien. However, once they crossed paths, she became impressed by his talent.
“I was going to quit. I went to one class of Cynthia’s. Conan wasn’t there; everyone there just felt like, ‘Oh not for me.’ These are actory people. I thought comedy would be less serious and phony,” she said.
“They were really overdoing it with emotional adjustments. I was like: ‘This is just embarrassing. This is like cheerleading,'” she continued.
Shepard described improv as an “embarrassing endeavor,” but Kudrow said it was different when she saw O’Brien performing in the class.
She said: “I was a little late, and they were already up there doing lift a disc or space ball or whatever it was—’Now throw it, and you’re angry. Everyone’s angry, angry now.’ People are throwing it, and they’re like, ‘Grrr.’ So embarrassing. And then there was Conan.
“I didn’t know him. He was really tall, red hair, and he was throwing it, and he was angry, but he wasn’t making a meal of it. I got it. And then Cynthia said, ‘Good commitment,’ and I went: ‘That’s what commitment means? I can do that.’ And so I just made a beeline for him when it was all over.”
Kudrow and O’Brien previously spoke about their friendship on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast. In the episode “Lisa Kudrow Returns,” O’Brien said he had a “great front-row seat” to get to know how “funny” and “fantastic” Kudrow was before Friends became an international success.
“And then to see you not just nationally and internationally—everyone [goes], ‘Yep, her, she’s, like, she’s the funniest.’ And I thought, How cool to see that beforehand,” he said.
“I don’t know, that was an amazing thing to get to see,” he added. “And also to someone who is a really good person and deserves it.”
