Lisa Kudrow's experience filming the final season of "The Comeback" was a deeply emotional and challenging one. As the actress who portrays Valerie Cherish in the HBO comedy series, she spoke exclusively to PEOPLE about the premiere of season 3. "The last scene [of the series] was the last scene that we shot," Kudrow said. The 62-year-old star continued, "We started with rehearsal and I couldn't get through it. I had a very difficult time mentally separating myself from the character and the experience she was having. It was overwhelming."
Kudrow expressed her frustration at the timing of filming the final scene, stating, "I also felt like, 'Why did we shoot this last? We should have shot this last week.' And then I realized that there was more to it, and she tricked us. That was hard." The Friends star admitted that she was emotional about the series coming to an end and had to step away from the set for a moment while filming its final scene. "I needed to take a minute and just leave the stage and walk around outside and have a little talk with myself," Kudrow recalled.
The Emmy-nominated sitcom debuted in June 2005 and was canceled after its first season. Later, The Comeback amassed a cult following and was revived in 2014 for a second season. Now, nearly 12 years later, the comedy series has returned with its third and final season, which premiered on March 22.
While the first season of The Comeback follows Valerie Cherish, a "B-list actress" who agrees to "do a reality show that follows her efforts to land a part in a sitcom," per the HBO synopsis, its third season sees Valerie navigating show business (and AI) after many years have passed since the first season. Along with Kudrow, the comedy stars Dan Bucatinsky, Laura Silverman, and Damian Young.
Kudrow told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on March 18 that it's fun to be Valerie. "As many times as people would say to me, 'It must be so hard to play those situations where everyone is so tough on her. Isn't that grueling?' I would just stare back, like, blink, blink, blink. Grueling? Not at all. What's wrong with me? It wasn't grueling at all. I didn't feel bad for one second."
The actress discussed her fictional on-screen character further and mentioned, "Valerie creates her own reality. Yeah, she's a little delusional, but that's one of the sources of comedy. It's so obvious to us that people want her to stop talking or that they don't want her there, but she can't help it."
Though Kudrow loves her character and was eager to revive The Comeback, she told the outlet it's time to say goodbye to Valerie Cherish. "We need to say 'third and final,'" Lisa Kudrow said. "I don't know if I'll want to do it again in 10 years, so let's be done, that way no one is asking what's next or whether we will even want to do more."
