Friends Actress Jessica Hecht Shares Why She's 'Grateful' for Not Being a Lead Character on the Series

Published: May 27, 2025

By Victoria Edel and Dave Quinn

Published on May 27, 2025 12:35PM EDT

Jessica Hecht, the Tony nominee, opens up to PEOPLE in a new interview about her time on Friends, and why she's "grateful" she wasn't a lead character. Hecht played Susan, the wife of Ross's ex-wife Carol, on the series.

Hecht says the "responsibility" of playing a lead on the beloved series is "more than most people could manage." She praises the main cast — Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, the late Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer — for managing that pressure "gracefully."

They "owned" being part of an ensemble, she says, and "the fact that they were each unique within that beautiful cluster was truly an accomplishment." She also credits James Burrows, who created Cheers and directed many early episodes of Friends, with helping the cast find the balance as an ensemble.

Jessica Hecht in 'Friends' in 1995 (left); Jessica Hecht in May 2025 (right).

Hecht explains she's not only "grateful" that she was a part of Friends, but, "I'm also grateful that I wasn't a lead character in many ways, because the responsibility of that is more than most people could manage."

Hecht made her Broadway debut in 1997's The Last Night of Ballyhoo and has appeared in plays like Julius Caesar, Brighton Beach Memoirs, A View from the Beach, Harvey, and the 2015 revival of Fiddler on the Roof. This is her third Tony nomination.

Hecht also stars in Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut that just premiered at Cannes. Hecht and Johansson starred together in A View from the Bridge.

The 2025 Tony Awards air live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City Sunday, June 8, on CBS.

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Jessica Hecht (left) and David Schwimmer in 'Friends' in 1995.

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Hecht also stars in Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut that just premiered at Cannes. Hecht and Johansson starred together in A View from the Bridge.

The 2025 Tony Awards air live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City Sunday, June 8, on CBS.