“I Couldn’t Help It,” How Lisa Kudrow Fell in Love With the Wrong Guy, but Lived Happily Ever After

Recognizing love as soon as you see a person for the first time is a lucky thing that some people experience, but sometimes, for some reason, it is not reciprocated at that moment. However, Cupid knows who to bring together, and sooner or later ends up connecting them. That was the case with actress Lisa Kudrow, who one day met the love of her life, but had to wait until 6 years later to be together.

At Bright Side, we love stories where love triumphs, so we want to tell you the story of the actress and her soul mate.

A Los Angeles girl with big dreams

Even though every time we see her we remember her role in the series Friends, before becoming Phoebe, Lisa Kudrow was studying for a degree in psychobiology and intended to devote herself to research. But inspired by a friend of her brother’s, she decided to give acting a try. Also, before the world knew her name, she experienced what was then an impossible love: her roommate’s boyfriend.

Her best kept secret

Lisa met Michel Stern, a French advertising executive when he was dating her roomie. Although it was love at first sight, she kept her feelings secret out of respect for her friend’s relationship. “I saw him and I said, ’Well, he’s the perfect guy and everything is ruined because now they’re together and I can’t do anything,’” she said. “When he’d come to pick her up, he’d say, ’Oh, hi, Lisa,’ and I’d answer, ’Hi,’ and walk out of the room. He thought I was a crazy person,” she added.

Life gave them a second chance

But then the winds shifted in her favor: her roomie’s relationship with the man of her dreams ended 2 months later. As fate would have it, they met again 6 years later at her friend’s birthday party, and never parted again.

They decided to make their love reality by saying “I do” on May 27, 1995, and 3 years later, they welcomed their only son, Julian Murray.

The key to their happy marriage

Meeting the man of her dreams without being able to be with him, even though fate decided they were meant for each other, could be the script for another series or movie, but their love story is as real as it is consistent. After 26 years, their marriage is still strong because they laid their groundwork from the beginning: “When we decided to get married we didn’t promise to love each other forever, because you can’t do that, but we promised to work through any problems that come up. We are committed to making our marriage work,” she said.

In addition, she also confessed that her secret is independence within their coupledom: “We respect each other’s independence, and I don’t say that as a euphemism, I don’t mean relationships outside marriage. For example, I don’t like to travel, but if he wants to go on a golf trip, he goes. I think the problems start when couples assume they are a unit, synchronized in everything. Marriage is like being on a team. Each partner is different, but they have the same goal.”

She even recounted a quirk we rarely see in a marriage: “We don’t usually get to be together on our anniversaries, it’s like, ’Okay, does that matter? I love you, do you still love me? Yeah, great, we’re good.’”

How did you meet your partner? What is his or her story?