Lisa Kudrow and Her Husband of 27+ Years, Michel Stern, Have the Sweetest Relationship
Lisa Kudrow has become famous for many things throughout her three-decade-plus career in Hollywood—and obviously, one of them is her portrayal of Phoebe Buffay on Friends. The actor's quirky and eccentric character is a key reason why millions of people continue watching old episodes of the show today...and among those millions is Lisa's husband Michel Stern.
“Michel and I started watching some of season 4, which I thought I had watched, it's as if I didn't...He enjoys them more than I do because I'm mortified with myself,” the actor revealed during the Friends reunion special last May.
Lisa and Michel originally met in the '80s under some truly wild circumstances. (I'm not even sure the Friends writers could have come up with it, TBH!) They married in 1995 and welcomed their son, Julian Murray Stern, three years later in 1998. Get to know Michel and Lisa's love story a little better, below!
Michel and Lisa's meet-cute was anything but ordinary
I mean, it all worked out in the end! But when these two first met, Lisa shared a space with a roommate...who just so happened to be dating Michel. “I was living with [a] French girl and he had just moved here and they were dating when we first met. But I'm freakishly polite, so I saw him and went, 'Well, he's the perfect man and it's all ruined because now they're together and I can't,'” the actor once recalled, per The Daily Mail.
“I thought that that's not nice to flirt. But the minute I saw him I went, 'Well, that's it, there he is,'” she continued. Luckily, the stars aligned after Michel and the roomie eventually broke up ~2 months later...though he and Lisa didn't immediately start dating. In fact, it took half a decade! As Lisa put it, “Six years later I met him again at her birthday party and we just never stopped.”
They got married during the Friends era
Like, a week after the first season of the legendary show wrapped. From then on, Friends became inextricably linked to Lisa and Michel's romance in the best way possible. Case in point? When the actor announced her pregnancy IRL, the writers on the show managed to work it into her character's storyline during season 4 because duh, how else would one explain Phoebe's growing belly other than her becoming a surrogate for her brother’s triplets?
In an interview with People in 2018, the actor recalled that time on set and the sheer amount of support she received from her co-stars. “The six of us would do a huddle backstage and just say, 'All right, have a good show, love you love you love you love you.' And when I was pregnant, then they would say, 'Have a great show, love you love you—love you, little Julian!' 'Cause we knew it was a boy and that was his name,” she said, adding that it was “so sweet” her bb was included 🥺.
Even years down the line, the connection as strong; HBO Max’s May 2021 special Friends: The Reunion actually debuted on the couple’s 26th wedding anniversary. ❤️
TL;DR: Friends is one heck of a good omen.
Michel makes the occasional cute red carpet visit alongside Lisa
Though these two tend to keep their relationship a bit more private, they *have* been known to show out at events when they do decide to walk a carpet.
Here they are at the 2005 premiere of HBO's series The Comeback:
Aaaaand at the 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards:
Not to mention these absolute 'FITS at the 50th Emmy Awards:
Literally iconic:
They've low-key nailed the whole marriage thing
In 2014, Lisa spoke with Glamour and shared sweet insight into how her relationship with Michel has lasted so many years. “When [Michel and I] decided to get married, we understood: We're not promising to love each other forever, because you can't do that, but we are promising to work on whatever problems come up. We're committed to our marriage working. It turns out, after you have a history, there's such a bond, and love takes another shape. But, oh, I don't want to jinx it—I'm superstitious!” she confessed to the outlet. Cute pic break coming in 3...2...1...
“[We both] respect each other's independence, and I don't mean that as a euphemism. I don't mean relationship-wise outside the marriage. Clear? But I don't like to travel. So if he wants to go on a golf trip, he goes. I think people get in trouble [when they assume they're] supposed to be one unit, in sync about everything. [Marriage] is like being on a team. Each teammate is different, but you have the same goal,” she concluded. Obsessed!
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