Friends Star Lisa Kudrow Explains Clever Reason Phoebe Has A Twin Sister

screenrant.com:

Friends star Lisa Kudrow explains why her character, Phoebe Buffay, ended up having a twin sister. The iconic NBC series focused on six New Yorkers, devoting much of its time to the various romantic entanglements of Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey, and Phoebe. Friends would occasionally divert, however, to show the family lives of its core ensemble. Phoebe’s family life was the most tragic (but also sometimes the strangest and funniest), ebbing and flowing over the course of ten seasons.

Phoebe's father, Frank, abandoned her as a child. The woman she believed was her mother, who died by suicide, lied to her, and it was later revealed that Phoebe’s birth mother had given her up for adoption. And though Phoebe has a half-brother that she loves in Frank Jr., viewers never got to see their relationship evolve, since the character stopped making regular appearances after a recurring role in Friends season 4. Phoebe did have one relative in New York, however, in her twin sister Ursula. The two memorably did not get along whenever they had to share a scene. Oddly, Kudrow also played the waitress Ursula on the NBC sitcom Mad About You before landing a leading role on Friends.

Related: Friends: How Phoebe And Ursula's Twin Scenes Were Filmed

During an interview on the Podcrushed podcast, Kudrow was asked about the reasoning behind bringing Ursula into the Friends universe as Phoebe's twin. The actress explained that her recurring role on Mad About You freed her up to audition for other parts, and she soon landed the role of Phoebe on Friends. Given the two shows held back-to-back time slots, Friends «needed to address» Ursula's presence on another TV show, ultimately leading to her character's crossover. Read Kudrow's full