Lisa Kudrow ‘Couldn’t Get Through’ Filming Valerie Cherish’s Final Scene in “The Comeback” (Exclusive)

The actress got emotional saying goodbye to Valerie Cherish as HBO’s cult-favorite comedy comes to an end after three seasons

NEED TO KNOW

• Lisa Kudrow is saying goodbye to The Comeback one last time

• The actress tells PEOPLE she had to “take a minute and just leave the stage” while filming the emotional final scene

• The Comeback’s third and final season is now streaming on HBO 

Lisa Kudrow had a hard time filming as The Comeback came to an end.

The actress, who stars as Valerie Cherish on the HBO comedy series, spoke exclusively to PEOPLE about filming its final season at the season 3 premiere in Los Angeles on March 19. 

“The last scene [of the series] was the last scene that we shot,” Kudrow, 62, said. “We started with rehearsal and I couldn’t get through it. And I thought, ‘Oh, no. What’s going to happen?’ I had a very hard time sending myself away to not intrude on Valerie, who’s not having the same experience that I am having. It was overwhelming.” 

She continued, “I also felt like, ‘Why did we shoot this last? We should have shot this last week,’ and then I know there’s more, and she tricked us. That was hard.” 

The Friends star admitted she was emotional about the series coming to an end and had to step away from 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 said. 

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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 as she navigates show business (and AI) years down the line. Along with Kudrow, the comedy stars Dan Bucatinsky, Laura Silverman and Damian Young.

“It’s fun to be Valerie,” Kudrow told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on March 18. “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."

She added, "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,’” 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."

"The most respectful thing we can do for the audience and for the character is make it a three-part story,” she explained. “It’s a trilogy, and this is the end.”

The Comeback is available to stream on HBO.