The Unknown Things About Lisa Kudrow

It might have been almost 20 years since the show came to an end, but people still can’t get enough of the sitcom ‘Friends’ all these years later. Of course, starring as Phoebe Buffay - arguably plenty of people’s favorite character - saw Lisa Kudrow go down as a legend.

Still, how much do we really know about the woman who gave the world ‘Smelly Cat’? The lesser-known things about Lisa Kudrow go to show just how diverse this actress is - and how things could have once been very different.

Lisa Kudrow joined her former co-stars in remembering Matthew Perry

‘Friends’ fans across the world learned the tragic truth that one of their favorite stars was gone. Matthew Perry sadly passed away on October 28, 2023, at 54 years old, and everyone wondered how the rest of the cast of the sitcom would take it. We didn’t have to wait long to find out the answer.

Just days after the news broke, Lisa Kudrow teamed up with her former castmates - Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, and Courteney Cox - to release a joint statement through People magazine. Here, they spoke about the “unfathomable loss” of losing their “brother,” adding, “We are a family” and “more than just cast mates,” even all these years later.

Fans begged Lisa Kudrow to adopt Matthew Perry’s beloved dog Alfred

Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow, like the rest of the cast, grew incredibly close after working together for ten years on the set of ‘Friends.’ It appears it was a bond that never faltered, and it meant plenty of fans wanted Lisa to step in and help when news of Matthew’s passing spread across the world.

Apparently, fans were worried about what would happen to Matthew’s beloved pup, Alfred. The golden doodle had appeared on the star’s social media, with sources stating Lisa was “considering” adopting the pup. Users were quick to tag Lisa, asking to “please adopt Alfred.” However, there was more to the story than fans of Matthew’s realized at first.

The reports about Lisa Kudrow adopting Matthew Perry’s dog turned out to be false

Of course, it can be tough to disappoint fans, especially in the wake of something so tragic. However, Lisa Kudrow won’t be adopting Matthew Perry’s dog, Alfred - and there’s a very good reason. It turned out the pooch didn’t actually live with the actor anymore. Instead, he resides with Matthew’s ex-fiancée, Molly Hurwitz, and seemingly has been for a while.

It’s believed Molly and Matthew adopted Alfred during their relationship, but she was the one to take the pooch when they split. In September 2023, Molly wrote about her four-legged friend, stating he’s “very annoying a lot of the time,” but he was still “the most loving potato.” Plus, Molly thanked Alfred for helping her get through “some dark depression.”

A source claims Lisa Kudrow has thoughts about how Matthew Perry lost his life

Lisa Kudrow was one of many who got the opportunity to work with Matthew Perry over the years, but she was also one of the ones to help him through some of his darkest moments. Although Jennifer Aniston was the one to confront Matthew about his drinking while working on ‘Friends,’ he says the entire cast was there for him.

Now, a source claims Lisa has her own thoughts about how Matthew lost his life. A source told Yahoo the actress believes Matthew might have taken medication that “did not mix with the warm water,” and that’s how he passed away in his hot tub. However, this hasn’t been confirmed, as further tests are still needed.

Matthew Perry allegedly found it hard to film Friends due to his crushes

If there’s one thing many of us have learned, it’s that the cast of ‘Friends’ had an incredible bond. Matthew Perry had already been open during ‘Friends: The Reunion’ that they would still spend the entire night talking if they ever bumped into each other at Hollywood events, but it seems he might have had stronger feelings at one point.

In his memoir, ‘Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,’ Matthew spoke about always being attracted to unavailable people. The twist? It seems he was once attracted to the leading ladies of the sitcom, too. In fact, Matthew told Diane Sawyer it was “kind of difficult to go to work” as he had “to pretend I didn’t have these crushes.”

Nothing ever happened between the pair, but they always remained close

Just because Matthew Perry was allegedly attracted to his female castmates, it would never go anywhere. According to the actor, there was a “no hookup rule” on the set, meaning he couldn’t ask Lisa Kudrow on a date even if he wanted to. Thankfully, his supposed crush on the actress never stood in the way of their friendship.

In fact, Lisa would often offer support to her co-star, especially when he was at the height of his addictions. It later became public knowledge just how many times Matthew had been to rehab and the staggering number of surgeries he’d been through. Amazingly, it didn’t scare Lisa away, who remained by his side throughout it all.

Lisa Kudrow penned an emotional prologue letter for Matthew Perry’s memoir

One of the scariest moments came when Matthew Perry’s colon ruptured, and he was placed into a coma, with his loved ones learning there was only a 2% chance he would survive. From there, his recovery really kicked up a gear, with Lisa penning a special letter for his memoir to talk about her side of the story.

Here, the actress spoke about how he “[came] to understand that this disease relentlessly fed itself.” That wasn’t all. In the emotional letter, Lisa added she had no idea how to handle the situation, but how Matthew “survived impossible odds” even though she “had no idea how many times he almost didn’t make it,” finishing with “I love you.”

The actress never planned on making it big in Hollywood

Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow grew to become so close because of their shared love of acting and their time together on ‘Friends,’ but there was once a time when things could have been very different. That’s because Lisa almost didn’t end up acting at all. In fact, when she was born in 1963, her parents already had established careers.

While her mother worked as a travel agent, Lisa’s dad was a doctor, with Lisa acting as the youngest of their three children. In 2014, Glamour called the actress a “rare breed of Hollywood superstar” as she “never thought I’d be an actress.” According to Lisa, it “wasn’t even on my mind when I was 22, sitting at graduation.”

Lisa Kudrow initially planned on following in her father’s footsteps

In 2010, Lisa Kudrow returned to Vassar College for a special commencement. It turns out the star actually studied biology here and initially planned to work with her father in his doctor’s office. It’s said Lisa’s dad was a “world-renowned headache specialist,” and she graduated college with plans of following in his footsteps with “big plans for the future.”

That wasn’t all that was on Lisa’s mind. According to the actress, she wanted to get published and then wait for a graduate program “at whichever impressive university accepted me.” Of course, most knew how things ended up. According to Lisa, that came “six months after graduation” when she “dumped that plan and decided to become an actress.”

She actually co-authored a paper with her father before acting came along

Deciding to become an actress might not sound like something you can do overnight, but that was the case for Lisa Kudrow. That didn’t mean she gave up all hopes of making it in the world of medicine. In fact, she actually co-authored a scientific paper with her dad and two others before she switched her career entirely.

In 1994, the group worked on a paper that delved into the idea of cluster headaches and how they could be tied to a person’s handedness. Sadly, there’s a reason Dr. Lee Kudrow does what he does - headaches and migraines run in their family. According to People magazine, he has also investigated treatments for migraines throughout his career.

Jon Lovitz was the one to convince Lisa Kudrow to try acting

So, how did Lisa Kudrow get from investigating headaches and migraines to acting as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars? According to the star, acting was something she “always kind of wanted” and was at the back of her mind, but she never thought it would come true. That was until she spoke with Jon Lovitz.

The comedian and actor was her brother’s best friend and was the one to convince Lisa to reach for the stars. The actress told Glamour Jon convinced her to learn about improv at the Groundlings School. When talking to Express, Lisa admitted her “whole family is very funny,” so she’d “steal their stuff” and use it to make people laugh.

The actress initially found work in an improv comedy troupe

It turned out that learning about improv had more of an effect on Lisa Kudrow than she ever expected. However, it wasn’t until she graduated from college that she realized it was now or never if she wanted to give acting a go. Still, Lisa had a backup plan. If acting didn’t work, she would return to grad school.

Thankfully, learning all she did found the Groundlings School meant it wasn’t long before Lisa had an incredible audition with their famous comedy troupe and was signed on as a part of the team. From there, Lisa got to learn the ropes and perform alongside some of the best as she found her footing in the comedy world.

Conan O’Brien and Lisa Kudrow once dated for a short time

When you think of leading names in comedy, there’s a good chance a few names come to mind. What about Conan O’Brien? For years, he has been the leading face of the comedy scene for many, but there was a time when two very unexpected paths crossed. That’s right; Conan and Lisa Kudrow were romantically linked.

The couple were both at the beginning of their careers, with Lisa admitting to More magazine that she thought he was “really smart, really funny,” while Conan reciprocated the feeling that she was “funny,” too. Sadly, things didn’t last, with Lisa admitting they both quickly realized they “were better as friends,” thankfully, a friendship that remained.

Lisa Kudrow and Conan O’Brien both had big impacts on each other’s careers

Even though the romance didn’t last between the pair, it seems that without each other, Lisa Kudrow and Conan O’Brien might not be where they are today. Apparently, Conan was one of the leading people to help Lisa when she started acting, encouraging her to stick with it when everything seemed to be going wrong. That’s not all.

Lisa returned the favor by helping Conan, who was working as a comedy writer at the time. She told USA Today that she was “very encouraging,” stating she convinced him to try his hand at late-night talk shows. When talking to Glamour, Lisa admitted she was lucky to have “someone you respect who thinks you’re good” in the early days.

She was initially rejected and fired from promising roles

She had everything she needed - and people fighting in her corner - but things were far from smooth for Lisa Kudrow when she tried to get her start in Hollywood. In fact, she was actually rejected from some huge projects. One moment came in 1990 when Lisa auditioned for the sketch comedy show ‘Saturday Night Live’ - and was turned down.

Thankfully, things turned around when Lisa landed Roz in the sitcom ‘Frazier.’ Unfortunately, she was quickly fired and replaced by Peri Gilpin during the pilot. Head of NBC casting, Lori Openden, later admitted “the only thing that wasn’t quite working was Lisa’s character,” with the actress admitting it was “devastating” as she always wanted to work on a sitcom.

Appearing on Mad About You saw Ursula Buffay come to life

She might have been rejected from one NBC show, but it wasn’t long until Lisa Kudrow got another chance. This time, it was the sitcom ‘Mad About You’ where the star got the chance to bring Ursula Buffay to life. Creators of ‘Friends,’ David Crane and Marta Kauffman, saw Lisa audition for the show while she was still playing Ursula.

The pair admitted she “just nailed it,” adding Lisa brought “so much humanity” to a character who could be “cartoonish.” However, there was a problem. The shows aired one after another, and people were worried about seeing the same actress play two characters back-to-back. The result? They merely made Ursula Phoebe Buffay’s twin sister in ‘Friends.’ Problem solved!

The actress apparently didn’t like filming any scenes with Ursula

Playing Ursula Buffay gave Lisa Kudrow’s career the step up that she had been so desperate to land. Sadly, things didn’t quite translate when that character moved over to ‘Friends.’ Why? It turned out Lisa was less than impressed when she had to film scenes with the pair of them as they could be incredibly draining.

Kevin S. Bright worked as one of the executive producers of ‘Friends’ and spoke about how tricky it would be to get the shots they needed to bring the twins to life. Apparently, they used Lisa’s real-life sister as the stand-in while filming, which only added to the stress of it all. Thankfully, that never translated to the screen.

James Burrows warned the cast of Friends that their lives were about to change forever

At the time, no one had any idea just how big ‘Friends’ would grow to become. Sure, people launch a project in the hopes that it will go down as well as they planned, but all these years later, and the sitcom is still one of the most popular of all time. Still, one person had an inkling.

That was James Burrows. The director and producer - who later worked on several episodes of ‘Friends’ - apparently encouraged the cast to head to Las Vegas for their “last shot at anonymity” before the show aired. While James might have been right, Lisa was already a rising star before ‘Friends’ came along. The world just didn’t know it yet.

Lisa Kudrow initially wanted to play another character on Friends

While she might have appeared in a host of other roles over the years, there’s a good chance most of us know Lisa Kudrow from her time as Phoebe Buffay from ‘Friends.’ What about learning there was a chance the actress could have brought one of the other stars to life instead? It all started when Lisa auditioned.

Although she was up for the part of Phoebe, the actress told ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ that she immediately felt a connection with the part of Rachel Green, who eventually went to Jennifer Aniston. She added she thought Rachel “could be hilarious” and she could “identify with that more,” but Lisa was apparently told, “No, no. Phoebe.”

Matt LeBlanc helped the actress settle into the role of Phoebe Buffay

It seemed things were so conflicted when Lisa Kudrow was cast as Phoebe Buffay that she initially didn’t know if she could keep going with the character. The actress spoke to Kevin Nealon about it all as a part of the online series ‘Hiking with Kevin,’ where he explained she initially “struggled” to bring Phoebe to life.

In fact, Lisa began to doubt if she was the right fit for the role. That was until her co-star Matt LeBlanc sat down with the actress. Lisa explained how Matt said, “You’re her. Relax, you got it,” before adding she needed to “relax” as she was “working too hard.” Thankfully, that’s all Lisa needed, admitting, “He was right.”

She had no idea how to play the guitar and wanted Phoebe to have another instrument

Of course, one of the most stand-out features of Phoebe Buffay is how she is trying to make it as a musician. Her guitar skills might leave a lot to the imagination, but it just fits with the character so well. Still, there was a time when Lisa Kudrow wanted Phoebe to play another instrument entirely. Why?

That’s all thanks to the fact she had no idea how to play the guitar. Perfect. It seemed the ‘Friends’ creators had a specific image in mind for Phoebe, so they hired a guitar teacher. However, Lisa only ever had a few lessons to get her head around a few chords and used just them throughout the show.

Lisa Kudrow met her husband when he started dating her roommate

Plenty of Hollywood stars meet their other halves through the industry, but not Lisa Kudrow. She has been married to advertising executive Michel Stern for almost 30 years, but things could have turned out very differently if Michel stuck to his original plan. That’s because he was dating Lisa’s roommate when the pair first met.

Still, it wasn’t long until Lisa realized she had a major crush on the man and became incredibly awkward around Michel whenever he visited. According to the Daily Mail, Lisa would try to hide how she felt but would often “leave the room” whenever he said hello out of embarrassment, with Lisa assuming Michel thought she “was a freak.”

It took six years before the pair finally started dating

Luckily for Lisa Kudrow, Michel Stern and her former roommate only dated for a couple of months before they called time on their relationship. However, that didn’t mean they immediately jumped into a new relationship with each other. In fact, it took another six years until they crossed paths again at a friend’s birthday party.

Thankfully, the sparks were instant, and the pair have been together ever since. The best bit? Lisa has been open about how to keep their marriage going. When talking to Glamour, the actress admitted their mutual commitment means there’s “such a bond” and “love takes another shape” when you learn how to be fully committed to someone.

Friends producers decided to work Lisa Kudrow’s real-life pregnancy into the show

When Lisa Kudrow welcomed her baby in 1998, she was the first of the ‘Friends’ stars to start a family. In fact, it remained that way until 2004, when Courteney Cox eventually welcomed her daughter, Coco. Of course, in 1998, Lisa was in the middle of the show, with the producers needing to decide how to handle the situation.

Eventually, they decided to write Lisa’s real-life pregnancy into ‘Friends.’ The moment came in season four when Phoebe acted as a surrogate for her half-brother, Frank Jr. (played by Giovanni Ribsi.) While she might have welcomed triplets in the show, Lisa was only pregnant with one child at the time, a son she named Julian.

Baby Julian became a part of the cast’s pre-show ritual before he was born

It turns out the leading cast of ‘Friends’ had a ritual they would do before filming each episode. Lisa Kudrow explained to People magazine that the six actors would “do a huddle backstage” as they all said, “have a good show, love you love you love you love you.” The best bit? That all changed when Lisa fell pregnant.

According to the actress, they would all go around saying their usual mantra before adding “love you, little Julian!” to the end. Lisa admitted everyone knew she was having a boy and what she planned to name her son, adding she thought it was “So sweet” that her castmates all “included my little fetus in the huddle.”

Julian Stern started calling another Friends star “Mommy”

By the time ‘Friends’ wrapped, Julian Stern was five years old. However, he got to spend much of his time on the set of the sitcom as Lisa Kudrow would often bring him along for a day of acting. Here, it wasn’t long before Julian allegedly started to get pretty close to one of her co-stars: Jennifer Aniston.

Lisa explained during an episode of ‘Conan’ that Julian would “fly into her lap.” adding that Jen is “a love bug” and it “made sense” they got along so well. The twist? When they would be at home, Lisa said Julian would see Jen on the TV and call her “Mommy.” Thankfully, Lisa eventually saw the funny side.

The actress became the first from Friends to win an Emmy for the role

There was an incredible amount of talent that oozed from 'Friends.' That was just the main cast, with some huge names appearing as guest stars on the sitcom throughout the years, too. Even though there was so much it was tough to choose the best, Lisa Kudrow was eventually the one to win the first Emmy from the series.

Her first nomination came after just one season of 'Friends' when Lisa was up for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - the same year David Schwimmer was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. While she didn't win the first time around, Lisa did get the award after nomination number three in 1998.

Lisa Kudrow continued to land a host of award nominations for her work

Amazingly, but well-deserved, Lisa Kudrow would eventually earn six Emmy nominations thanks to her time on the sitcom. They were before the eight other nominations for her other shows, including six nominations as an executive producer for the documentary ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ and two for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the comedy-drama ‘The Comeback.’

Emmys were just the beginning for the actress, with Phoebe Buffay also seeing Lisa’s name up for an American Comedy Award, a Screen Actors Guild, and a Golden Globe at various points throughout her career. The best bit? Lisa has taken more than a few of the awards home throughout the years - and they continue to come.

The actress often found she was comparing herself to her Friends co-stars

Starring on ‘Friends’ changed Lisa Kudrow’s life, but it wasn’t all for the best. After all, she was suddenly in the public eye more than ever before. It appears this stress would often get to Lisa, who admitted that she often struggled with her body image while on the show, especially when working with Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston.

Lisa later opened up about her struggles when talking to Marc Maron on his podcast. Here, the actress called herself a “mountain of a girl,” stating that her five-foot-eight-inch frame often made her feel like a giant. Lisa didn’t stop there, saying she was “already bigger” than her female co-stars, adding, “my bones feel bigger.”

Lisa Kudrow continued to struggle with her body image for years

One of the things that Lisa Kudrow allegedly suffered with during her time in the sitcom was her weight, with the actress explaining she would find herself getting “too thin,” meaning she was “sick all the time” with sinus infections and colds. Unfortunately, Lisa feels this was something that was never helped by anyone else.

The star continued to explain that she feels women are told, “you look good and that’s all I ever got” whenever she was “underweight.” Thankfully, it’s something that Lisa says has improved over the years. In fact, she admitted to Glamour that instead of getting cosmetic surgery, she thinks “everyone’s beautiful when they’re smiling,” so she “[tries] to be happy.”

The star later admitted she initially had a cosmetic procedure at 16 years old

It's common for teenagers to struggle with their body image, and it seems it's something that plagued Lisa Kudrow, too. In fact, things got so bad that she actually had a rhinoplasty when she was just 16 years old. Apparently, the youngster felt her nose was always too big, and it really affected her confidence.

As a result, Lisa opted to go under the knife during summer break. The teen was about to start a new high school in a new area, so she used this to her advantage as no one would know that anything had changed. When talking to the Daily Mail, Lisa admitted it was a positive decision that really helped.

The actress admits she hasn’t watched much of the later episodes of Friends

Lisa Kudrow will always be remembered for her ‘Smelly Cat’ performances and her famous lobster speech, but it turns out the memories might be a little foggy for the star herself. The actress has admitted that she doesn’t always watch her work, which was the case for the later seasons of ‘Friends,’ including ‘The One Where They Say Goodbye.’

Phoebe plays a huge role in the finale of the show, as she’s the one to convince Ross to tell Rachel how he really feels, a moment that will forever stick in fans’ minds. However, when Lisa spoke to Entertainment Weekly, she confessed that she hasn’t “seen some of the later episodes, to be honest” and can’t remember what happened.

She added she doesn’t remember a lot about working on the show

This is a stark contrast to some other cast members, with Lisa Kudrow admitting that Matt LeBlanc and Jennifer Aniston tend to remember “everything” about the show, even down to the finer details. However, Lisa doesn’t see it as a bad thing. Instead, she told Entertainment Weekly that not watching the show makes it “really fun to talk about things.”

In fact, Lisa stated Matt and Jen have “phenomenal memories” while she “remember[s] nothing” about large chunks of the show. Plus, the actress says they all remember it differently, which makes it “great” and “really fun” to discuss. It seems Lisa might be more aligned with Phoebe Buffay than she ever realized at the time.

Lisa Kudrow was worried about what she would do once Friends came to an end

What happens when the biggest moment in your career comes to an end? For Lisa Kudrow, that moment came in 2004 when, after ten years, ‘Friends’ finally ended. Apparently, she was afraid of the unknown, and what would happen with her career now the sitcom was over. In fact, that’s what led her to the comedy-drama show ‘The Comeback.’

The series came just a year after ‘Friends’ and aired a single season - before it later returned in 2014 for another season. However, it’s a fear that followed Lisa, with the actress telling the Sunday Times Culture magazine that “fame can be hard,” and she often wonders what reality stars are “going to do when the show is over.”

People apparently still see the actress as Phoebe Buffay years later

Another aspect that comes with playing the same character for so long - and one that is so memorable - is the fact so many people will often associate you with them for the rest of your career. Even though Lisa Kudrow had some smaller roles before ‘Friends,’ playing Phoebe Buffay was the first notable gig of her career.

Thankfully, it seems Lisa has learned to accept that people will always see her as Phoebe. While it could mean some actors get typecast into specific roles, Lisa told Express that it’s “no problem” when “People still see me as Phoebe.” In fact, the actress went as far as saying, “She was a lovely person to be for 10 years.”

Starring in Friends helped Lisa Kudrow transition to film work in the late-’90s

She might have been in the middle of working on ‘Friends,’ but that didn’t stop Lisa Kudrow from using her new fame to her advantage. In fact, that moment came in 1997 when she starred in the comedy movie ‘Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.’ This wasn’t her first time appearing on the big screen.

Still, it was a huge moment for Lisa, with ABC News admitting it wasn’t easy to make the movie. Apparently, Touchstone Pictures reached out to writer-producer Robin Schiff when the TV pilot flopped. When Lisa was cast as Michele, Robin told ABC News that her fame from ‘Friends’ probably played a huge part in “[getting] the movie made.”

Appearing in Web Therapy helped give Lisa Kudrow’s career a new lease on life

Starring in ‘Friends’ meant so many doors suddenly opened for the six lead cast members, and it’s something Lisa Kudrow has used to her advantage throughout the years. IndieWire certainly thought so, as they labeled the actress the “most interesting former ‘Friend’” back in 2014, adding she can “[embrace] her character’s mentality” while “doing wholly original work as an actor.”

That moment was proven in 2008 when Lisa starred in the comedy series ‘Web Therapy.’ At the time, it was purely a web series with a low budget. However, Lisa had already found the production company Is or Isn’t Entertainment with Dan Bucatinsky, and apparently, they really helped to get the show off the ground.

The pair apparently had no plans to create Web Therapy at first

Apparently, Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky ever planned to “set out to trailblaze or innovate” the industry when they formed their production company. At least, that’s what Dan told Fast Company. Instead, they were approached about making a web series, but neither of them were interested in the idea in the beginning and turned it down.

It wasn’t until later that they “became intrigued” by the idea and started to look more into the idea of having a purely online show. After all, it was completely new at the time, and it wasn’t long before they were both convinced. The best bit? It was so successful that ‘Web Therapy’ was picked up by Showtime in 2011.

Much of Web Therapy was Lisa Kudrow showing off her improv skills

One of the things that makes ‘Web Therapy’ so successful is Lisa Kudrow’s performance as the leading lady, Fiona Wallice. Here, she plays the part of a therapist who works with her patients over the internet, and while it initially received mixed reviews, it wasn’t long before fans fell in love with everything about the comedy show.

Fiona thinks 50-minute sessions are too long and cuts them to 30 minutes, but that’s not the best bit. It turns out they would only ever write a loose outline for what they wanted each episode, and Lisa would actually improvise the rest. It was a challenge, but it allowed the star to tap into her improv comedy roots.

The actress also works as a producer and has her own production company

While she might be most famous for her time working in front of the camera, founding her own production company with Dan Bucatinsky, Is or Isn’t Entertainment, has helped her to expand her horizons once more. Throughout the years, they have brought incredible shows to life, such as ‘The Comeback’ and ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’

In fact, the latter was so successful that it wasn’t long before it got a spin-off in the UK, with Is or Isn’t Entertainment helping to produce the new version, too. The show has long been praised for helping people to track down long-lost family members and helping people to learn about their roots, with Lisa at the helm.