Friends Lisa Kudrows life off screen with husband and rarely-seen son

Friends star Lisa Kudrow tends to keep her private life with her husband and son out of the spotlight, despite being worldwide recognised for her role as Phoebe Buffay.

Lisa, 60, has been married to her husband Michel Stern since 1995 and together they have a son called Julian Murray Stern. While Lisa admitted she finds it hard to rewatch herself in Friends, Michel loves watching his wife of almost three decades in the iconic sitcom.

"He enjoys them more than I do," the actress revealed during the Friends reunion special in 2021. Before adding: "Because I'm mortified with myself."

But what else do we know about Lisa's doting husband and her rarely-seen son? Here's everything we know…

Meeting in France

Michel hails from France and moved to the United States to pursue a career in advertising. He's led a successful career as an advertising executive although not much else is known about his work having managed to keep his life almost completely private, despite his star-studded wife.

The couple met during the 80s when they were in France but didn't start dating until later. At the time Lisa was living with a roommate and Michel was her roommate's boyfriend.

"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 (make a play for him),'" said Lisa as reported by The Daily Mail.

She recalled: "I thought that that's not nice to flirt. But the minute I saw him I went, 'Well, that's it, there he is'." Michel and the French girl eventually ended their relationship and romance sparked up between Lisa and the advertising whizz.

Pregnancy on set

The couple tied the knot in 1995 and a few years later found out they were expecting a baby while Lisa was still working on Friends. What fans might not know is that Lisa's pregnancy was actually written into the show – the one where Phoebe was a surrogate for her brother Frank and his wife.

During an interview with PEOPLE in 2018, the actress recalled what it was like being pregnant while on set. "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", Lisa shared. Before adding that it was "so sweet" that her baby was included.

Lisa and Michel welcomed their son Julian Murray Stern in 1998. While the couple keep the majority of their relationship out of the spotlight they have been known to step out together at numerous events over the years.

In 2005, Michel joined Lisa at the premiere of HBO's series The Comeback and the year before walked the red carpet at the 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

'Committed to our marriage'

In 2014, Lisa opened up to Glamour about some of her best relationship advice. She told the publication: "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!"

"[Michel and I] 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."

Proud mum

Their son, Julian is now all grown up and looks to be following in his mum's footsteps. The 24 year old graduated from the University of Southern California as an aspiring cinematographer in 2021.

To mark the day a sweet snap was shared by the proud mum who supported her son with a loving hug. Lisa wrote the caption: "Happy proud HAPPY. And a little crying. By me not him … @juls_magewls."

While Julian focused on film editing after college, he's also taken on some acting gigs and appears in the short film Seth's Big Break 2 which is available to watch on YouTube.

Flying the nest

Lisa previously opened up about her son fleeing the nest and told Jimmy Kimmel: "I think I'm handling it really well, and you know, like a mature adult, happy that our son is away… and independent. It's hard.

"I think I did a good job injecting him with the right amount of fear. He's independent and good."

Lisa rarely shares photos of family life but on special occasions has taken to Instagram to pay tribute. And for her son's birthday in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Lisa posted a snap of her Julian's homemade birthday celebration and wrote: "Happy birthday my lovely son! @juls_magewls Thank you @bakeditmyself".

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