Alan Cumming is opening up about his years-long friendship with Lisa Kudrow.
Cumming, 61, gushed about Kudrow, 62, while speaking to Us Weekly exclusively at the Time100 Gala on Thursday, April 23. The Traitors host shared his reaction to Kudrow’s tribute in Time’s list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2026.
“I didn’t know it was going to be her. … They don’t tell you. And so it was just such a lovely surprise,” he told Us. “And you know, everything that she said about me, I completely feel about her.”
In her tribute, Kudrow wrote that Cumming is “just as spectacular in person as he is on your television screen.”
“I mean, are you kidding? He steps into the room, and you just can’t help but think, ‘Yes. Glorious,’” the Friends alum continued. “Everything about him is thrilling. And yet, there’s something about him that makes you feel like you can take a deep, calming breath whenever he’s near. He’s so fully himself — so free, so authentic — that simply being around him feels like a celebration. It’s really no wonder everyone is so drawn to him.”
Kudrow added that watching Cumming host The Traitors is “so much fun, not only because he always looks fantastic, but because he plays such a great villain.”
“The Alan I know off-screen is sweet, bubbly, and friendly,” she concluded. “He chooses joy, he chooses glee, and he sees the wonderful in everything. He’s a phenomenal person and also, luckily for us, a brilliant performer. Alan can do anything and everything, and that’s really all there is to it.”
Amy Sussman/WireImage Lisa Kudrow is keen to set the record straight. After her Friends costar, Jennifer Aniston, recently claimed Kudrow, 60, “hated” when the show’s live audience laughed during filming, Kudrow clarified her true feelings to Entertainment Tonight. “No, that’s not exactly … no, no. It irritated me if they would laugh for too long,” […]
While speaking to Us, Cumming recalled the “great connection” he made with Kudrow while they worked together on the 1997 comedy film Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.
“And we see each other sporadically, and work together sporadically. But I just always think of her as a really good friend,” he noted.
Cumming also recalled Kudrow hosting a panel for The Traitors in 2025, adding that he was “really moved” by her appearance at the event.
“It’s a lovely thing about knowing someone for a really long time, and having it be a genuine friendship,” he concluded.
Kudrow previously gushed about working with Cumming on Romy and Michele during an interview with Vanity Fair earlier this month.
“Alan Cumming, come on. He’s such a force,” she told the outlet. “I was so thrilled that he was going to be in Romy and Michele. He was so good. And then getting to meet him — and he’s so fun and light, so down to earth, but still like a little bit of that — oh, what is it? I don’t know — joie de vivre.”
