Over the course of her more than three decades in Hollywood, Lisa Kudrow has gained notoriety for a variety of things, with her depiction of Phoebe Buffay on Friends undoubtedly ranking among them. Michel Stern, Lisa’s husband, is one of the millions of fans who still watch old episodes of the show today because of the actor’s unusual and quirk-filled persona.
I thought I had watched some of season 4, but it seems as though I didn’t when Michel and I started watching it.
During the Friends reunion event in May of last year, the actor admitted, “He enjoys them more than I do because I’m embarrassed with myself.
In the 1980s, Lisa and Michel first connected in some rather bizarre circumstances. (To be honest, I’m not even convinced the Friends writers could have thought of that!) After being married in 1995, they had their son Julian Murray Stern in 1998. Discover a little more about Michel and Lisa’s romance below!
Michel and Lisa’s meet-cute was anything but ordinary
The fact that everything worked out in the end makes Michel and Lisa’s first encounter anything but conventional. However, Lisa and her roommate—who just so happened to be dating Michel—shared a residence when these two first got to know one another. He had just moved here, and they were dating when we first met. I was living with [a] French girl at the time. The actor reportedly recalled, according to The Daily Mail, “But I’m freakishly polite, so I saw him and went, ‘Well, he’s the perfect man and it’s all wrecked because now they’re together and I can’t.
“I believed that flirting was inappropriate. But the moment I caught sight of him, I thought, “Well, that’s it; there he is,” she added. Fortunately, everything fell into place after Michel and the roommate split up a little over two months later…even if he and Lisa didn’t start dating right away. In actuality, it took six years! Six years later, I ran into him again at her birthday celebration, and as Lisa described it, “We simply never stopped.”
They got married during the Friends era
Like, a week after the end of the illustrious program’s debut season. Friends’ relationship with Lisa and Michel was subsequently intimately linked to them in the best way conceivable. As an example? The show’s writers were able to incorporate the actor’s real-life pregnancy announcement into the season 4 plot arc of Phoebe because, well, how else would one explain Phoebe’s expanding belly other than by having her serve as a surrogate for her brother’s triplets?
The actor recounted that time on set and the overwhelming support she received from her co-stars in an interview with People in 2018. “Backstage, the six of us would gather and simply say, “All right, have a fantastic concert, love you love you love you love you. They would also say things like, “Have a great show, love you love you—love you, little Julian!” when I was pregnant. It was “very nice” that her best friend was invited, she continued, “since we knew it was a boy and that was his name.
Years later, the bond remained strong; in fact, the couple’s 26th wedding anniversary was the day HBO Max’s Friends: The Reunion premiered in May 2021. ❤️
Friends are a seriously good omen.
Michel makes the occasional cute red carpet visit alongside Lisa
Although they like to keep their romance a little more under wraps, these two *have* been known to turn heads when they do decide to walk a carpet.
Here they are during the HBO series The Comeback’s 2005 world premiere:
At the 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, additionally:
Arrivals for the 10th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Not to mention these unquestionable “FITS” from the 50th Emmy Awards:
fifty-first annual primetime Emmys
figuratively iconic
Arrivals for the “happy endings” screening at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
They’ve low-key nailed the whole marriage thing
In a 2014 interview with Glamour, Lisa gave some endearing insight into how her long-lasting relationship with Michel came to be. “When [Michel and I] made the decision to get married, we knew that we weren’t vowing to love each other forever because that is impossible, but we were promising to work through any issues that could arise. We are dedicated to making our marriage work. It turns out that there is such a bond after you have a past, and love takes on a different form. She admitted to the source, “But, well, I don’t want to jinx it—I’m superstitious! Cute picture break coming in three, two, one.
“We appreciate each other’s independence, and I don’t just use that as a nice way of saying that. I’m not talking about relationships outside of marriage. Clear? But I detest travelling. So he goes on golf trips if he wants to. People, in my opinion, get into difficulties when they believe they should be a cohesive unit that is on the same page with everything. Marriage is similar like playing on a team. Although each team member is unique, you all share the same objectives, she said. Obsessed!
Not to mention these unquestionable “FITS” from the 50th Emmy Awards:
