The beloved TV star's signature humor is on full display as a retired pianist selling her haunted Los Feliz home in No Good Deed.
Lisa Kudrow wasn’t necessarily looking for a new series when she was approached about starring in No Good Deed, the twisty new dark comedy from Dead to Me mastermind Liz Feldman. But once she heard the pitch — she’d be playing a retired pianist reluctantly selling her coveted Los Feliz home in the hopes of creating a fresh start with husband Paul, played by Ray Romano — she didn’t hesitate to sign on. “I remember saying, ‘It’s yes no matter what,’” Kudrow explains.
Kudrow and Romano lead a stacked cast that includes Linda Cardellini, Abbi Jacobson, Denis Leary, Teyonah Parris, Luke Wilson, and many more, playing buyers racing to outbid one another for what they believe is their dream property, as Lydia (Kudrow) and Paul (Romano) struggle to hide the dark and dangerous secrets that linger inside. By turns uproarious, dramatic, thrilling, and a feast of L.A. house eye candy, the series showcases Kudrow’s tremendous gifts as an actor and cements her stature as one of the sharpest comedic minds of her generation.
Kudrow came to acting after graduating from Vassar with a bachelor’s degree in biology, only to fall in love with performing through the L.A. improv and sketch comedy school, The Groundlings. Once she landed a recurring gig as eccentric waitress Ursula Buffay on the NBC sitcom Mad About You, blockbuster success was waiting in the wings — reprising the role on the 1994 sitcom Friends, she went on to land a starring turn as Ursula’s quirky twin sister, Phoebe. The rest is television history.
Kudrow’s knack for blending absurdity with a healthy dose of tartness allowed her to build an impressive career far beyond the Friends universe, however. She created and starred in series The Comeback and Web Therapy, and delivered unforgettable performances in such films as Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and The Opposite of Sex. No Good Deed is simply the latest addition to that list.
The multifaceted nature of this new character came as a challenge — Lydia maybe isn’t the kind of part you would have seen onscreen back when Kudrow was just starting out — and she says that was wonderful. “I think for actresses it’s better [now],” offers Kudrow. “In the 90s, you didn’t know actresses that were working so robustly in their 50s doing all of these series and films and characters being written [today] that are so much richer than the long-suffering wife or something. I do think it’s changed a lot in terms of how we tell a story.”
An edited version of the conversation follows.
Lisa Kudrow
Krista Smith: In No Good Deed, your character, Lydia, appears to be exactly what she is, but then it turns out she’s completely not what she seems. What made you jump at this role?
Lisa Kudrow: My agents called together and said, “Okay, it’s Netflix. It’s a limited series.” And I went, “Okay, that sounds all right. That’s good.” “Liz Feldman, who did . . .” And I said, “Dead to Me, I know. I know who Liz Feldman is. Oh, okay. This sounds like something I want to do.” I didn’t know what it was. “Also, Ray Romano’s playing your husband. Oh, and Linda Cardellini’s in it.” And I said, “Okay, do I need to read the script? I should, right? Should we just say I’m reading the script, but it’s yes,” is how I felt about it. Just trust, full trust. I got to read the first episode or the first three episodes, and thought, “Wait, there’s a lot of secrets here. Who am I going to turn out to be?” Then, I talked to Liz and just went, “Oh, you know what? Yeah.”
What was it that helped you get into Lydia’s mindset?
LK: I was listening to a lot of piano concertos that gave me a lot of emotion because my tendency, maybe in life too, is to sort of keep feelings to yourself, not express too much. Lydia is expressing, especially next to her husband, who’s not expressing a thing. That helped me a lot, stirring music, sort of quietly, deeply emotional.
You and Ray are both TV icons. We meet your characters in a very tense moment, and it’s not clear if they’re going to make it or not. There’s obviously a life-altering event, and they’ve grown apart, or they’re processing things so differently. Both are obsessed with each other, but sometimes that’s not enough.
LK: That’s right. It’s not enough. Secrets are toxic, it turns out. I mean, secrets cause more problems [but] then sometimes secrets are unavoidable. What is going on? What exactly happened? You guys are feeling really guilty. Oh my God, what did you do? That’s how I felt reading every episode. That’s what helped me with the character — just, “What did you do?” And for me, it was [challenging] finding the tone because there’s a specific tone to this, [to] what Liz Feldman does. It took me a minute because also, really, some of the stuff to me is like, “Okay, but this isn’t funny.” So it took me a minute. Luckily, Liz was very patient.
Did you guys rehearse it?
LK: These days, you rehearse. We got together, read a couple scenes aloud, talked about it. You just need to find it because this was a character that had, in my head, a different voice entirely for me. That makes it easier for me. It’s easier if it’s totally different from me, like Valerie Cherish [from The Comeback]. All right, no problem.
Paul (Ray Romano) and Lydia (Lisa Kudrow)
Lydia (Lisa Kudrow), Leslie (Abbi Jacobson), and Sarah (Poppy Liu)
Paul (Ray Romano) and Lydia (Lisa Kudrow)
Was Lydia a little closer to you then?
LK: In some ways. I mean, in some big ways. I got to see the first episode after it was done, and almost immediately I forgot I was in it and couldn’t wait to see the next episode and went, “Okay, that’s a good sign.” It’s hard [watching yourself]. I mean, you’re looking at things that the audience doesn’t care about and things that I know I forgive as an audience, acting things that, for whatever reason, the first time you’re watching it, in your head, it’s unforgivable what you’ve just done. There [are] moments where you feel like, “Okay, too bad you didn’t [make a different choice].”
Did Ray have that as well?
LK: Ray is, I think, a phenomenally good actor, too. I’ve been wanting to work with him for so long. It was sort of like, “I wonder if I’ll ever get to work with him because I bet that would be really great,” and it was. It was everything good I thought it would be.
Okay, so talking to you earlier, your son now is grown and has worked as an actor and cinematographer. Do you find yourself having to hold back from giving advice?
LK: Well, I’m using my parents as the role model and somewhat my own experience. The best thing about dealing with a child who wants to go into the arts is just remembering how it was, and also having to reassure my husband. Nothing happens for many years. With all the disappointments, you’ve got to just be supportive. That’s all. Just be really supportive. He’s fine. He has his own voice. We don’t have the same sense of humor because I’m not 26.
Does he have your timing at all?
LK: He’s so much more subtle that I’m not even sure when he’s kidding and saying outrageous things. It’s drier, and then in other aspects, much more broad. I can only act really and sometimes write. He’s a director. He’s got an eye visually for everything. He’s a phenomenal editor, which is great if you want to direct. He’s always known exactly what he needs to shoot because he already knows how he’s putting it together, but he can also act.
It’s been three decades since the pilot of Friends aired in 1994 and two decades since the show ended in 2004, yet its role in pop culture continues to endure. How is it when you see Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox?
LK: We genuinely know each other. It’s like family. It’s like for anybody else [being with the people] that you went to college with and you had a life [with]. College is life-changing — four years living somewhere with other people. [It’s like that with us.] We’re family.
If you had to pick one character from your career to check in on, which one would it be?
LK: There are so many ways to prioritize that. I mean, out of just curiosity, Phoebe, did you become a little more mainstream? I wonder if you and Mike had kids. I’d be curious about that. I’d imagine Connecticut. They’d ended up just sort of drifting into Mike’s origins with the kids. I would think she’s the one who started the art projects and stuff and was a big advocate for, “Let them just do their art. Try not to make it into a big thing.”
