Apr 9, 2026 8:18am PT

Lisa Kudrow Had to Return to Work 10 Days After Giving Birth and Got No Maternity Leave in the 1990s: ‘It’s Insane. I Would Never Do It Now’

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Zack Sharf

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Lisa Kudrow recently appeared on “CBS Sunday Morning” to promote the latest season of her HBO comedy series “The Comeback” and reflected on how much Hollywood has changed since the 1990s. She summed things up by revealing work was made to be such a priority at that time that she never even had a maternity leave when she gave birth to her son, Julian, in May 1998. She went right back to working and doing press.

“I had given birth to my son, and 10 days later I did ‘The Tonight Show,” Kudrow said. “And then I was in a meeting for ‘Analyze This,’ and my agents were like: ‘Yeah, we’ll be ok, you’re not shooting until July, and it’s May, it’s no big deal.’ I was like: ‘Ok, yeah, I might be by then…’ In the meeting, Billy Crystal said, ‘I mean, you look great, are you sure you’re able to do this? When did you give birth?’ And I told him, and he’s like: ‘Alright, well, we start Thursday.'”

Lisa Kudrow Had to Return to Work 10 Days After Giving Birth and Got No Maternity Leave in the 1990s: 'It's Insane. I Would Never Do It Now'