Lisa Kudrow’s son Julian Stern used to mistake this Friends co-star for his mom after bonding with her on set

Lisa Kudrow has revealed her son Julian Stern often mistook her Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston for her during his childhood, leading to some pretty memorable moments. 

Friends star Lisa Kudrow has opened up about life as a mother whilst filming the long-running hit sitcom, as she raised her son Julian Stern alongside her role as Phoebe Buffay. Lisa's revelations come as the Friends Reunion wrapped filming last month and it's set to air on May 27 after delays due to COVID-19. 

With fans eager to see the friends back together, Lisa shared that her son Julian's closeness to her on-screen-turned-off-screen friends sometimes caused confusion when he was little. In a brilliant moment during an interview with Conan O’Brien, Lisa revealed that there was one co-star that Julian was particularly attached to. 

“He got a little confused. I know that he really was obsessed with Jen Aniston,” Conan began as the discussion turned to Julian's childhood. 

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“No, no, he’d fly into her lap,” Lisa responded, before sharing how much she appreciated the close relationship between her son and Jennifer. “Well, she’s a love bug, and that made sense. And I was always glad for anyone that Julian felt love for and felt from.”

Though it seems that young Julian’s bond with Jennifer also resulted in him making a pretty hilarious mistake whenever she appeared on screen at home.

“But then at home, like she’d be on TV, and he’d go: ‘Mommy!’” Lisa explained, laughing. Even now, the Friends star reveals that these moments were “not scarring”, but certainly made for some memorable times in Julian’s childhood.

“I’m kind of analytical so I’m like: ‘Is this wishful thinking? Or do they have some kind of higher soul connection that I don’t have with him?’” she joked to Conan. “Well, I’m happy for both of them.”

Who is Julian Stern? 

It was perhaps only natural for Julian Murray Stern to spend so much time on set of the hit sitcom during his childhood, as Lisa Kudrow was pregnant with him whilst filming the show. Julian is the son of Lisa and her husband Michel Stern, with the actor’s pregnancy being written into the script of Friends season 4. 

Reflecting on her son’s childhood experiences on the set of Friends, it seems a world away from the now-23-year-old Julian’s life at college, but proud mom Lisa recently took to Instagram to congratulate him on his graduation from the University of Southern California. She shared a heartfelt snap of her and Julian standing side by side, her son beaming in his graduation cap and gown. 

‘Happy proud HAPPY. And a little crying. By me not him.. @juls_magewls’, Lisa declared. 

Though Lisa has revealed Julian hasn’t seen “every episode” of Friends, only some episodes as he “felt like he had to” whilst people at school watched it, he is nevertheless very proud of his mom for all she has achieved.

She told Conan, "He was able to come to the reunion…[in a Covid-19-safe way] and afterward, he came up to me and he just said, ‘I don’t know if this is awkward or inappropriate. Can I say that I'm really proud of you?'”

It’s understood that Julian Stern is following in her footsteps and is eager to pursue an acting career. So while Julian might not be much of a Friends fan himself, he has certainly been inspired by his famous mom.