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Lisa Kudrow has revealed she was snubbed from the role of Rachel Green on Friends, despite hoping to land the part.

The actress, 63, was part of the famous six that appeared in the iconic sitcom, and won an Emmy for her turn as Phoebe Buffay.

But Lisa has now shared that she originally had hopes of playing the 'Jewish American Princess' that Jennifer Aniston would eventually go on to play, but didn't realise that Rachel was set to be a romantic lead.

Discussing the audition process, Lisa said: 'Idiot that I am, I went, ''Oh, but you know what? I got to say, Rachel is Jewish. And boy, I love doing a Jewish American Princess. I think I could make that really funny.''

'Not even clocking that, ''Oh no, this is the romantic lead to Ross''. Right? I told my agents, ''I can do Jewish American Princess and make that really funny''.

'And so they said, 'Uh-huh. All right. Well, we'll tell them [the show's creators].'

Lisa Kudrow has revealed she was snubbed from the role of Rachel Green on Friends, despite hoping to land the part (pictured on the show in 2001)

Lisa then told The Hollywood Reporter: 'They [later] went, ''No, no. It's so hard for them to find Phoebe. They're not messing with that''. So that was the sweet way of saying, ''Yeah, you are not the romantic interest''.'

The actress admitted that at the time she didn't 'look like women who were getting cast as series regulars on sitcoms,' and was bluntly told by casting agents she 'wasn't gorgeous.'

After her role on Friends, Lisa co-created, wrote and starred in the HBO comedy The Comeback, which sees her play a former sitcom star.

Her role in the show has earned her critical acclaim, and she has been nominated for an Emmy after each season of the show aired, in 2006, 2015 and 2026.

Lisa has previously suggested she was treated as an afterthought compared to the rest of her Friends co-stars.

The actress said that Jennifer, Courteney, Matt, the late Matthew and David eclipsed her in popularity while the series was still on television.

'Nobody cared about me,' Kudrow told the Independent. 'There were certain parts of [my talent agency] that just referred to me as 'the sixth Friend.''

As Friends became a megahit starting with its second season, several of her costars leveraged that success to secure choice film roles, but Kudrow thought the same kinds of deals eluded her.

The actress was part of the famous six that appeared in the iconic sitcom, and won an Emmy for her turn as Phoebe Buffay (pictured last week)

'There was no vision for me, and no expectations about the kind of career I could have,' she said. 'There was just, like, 'Boy, is she lucky she got on that show.''

The cast famously negotiated their salaries together, skyrocketing from $22,500 per episode in the first season to a staggering $1million each by the final two seasons.

They later reunited for a one-off special on HBO Max in 2021, reportedly earning a cool $2.5million apiece for the nostalgic return.

Lisa has also previously shared that the cast still rake in an astonishing $20million a year in residuals.

In the same interview, Kudrow reflected on why the series continues to generate such enormous residual income, suggesting its enduring success is more than justified.

‘After Matthew died I watched the show again. Before, I only saw what I did wrong or could have done better, but for the first time I truly appreciated just how great it was,’ Kudrow explained, referencing the tragic passing of Perry, who died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54 from the acute effects of ketamine.

'Because there was a genius at work. And whatever any of us do in the future, we will never experience something like that again.'