All the five lead co-stars of late actor Matthew Perry in the famous sitcom Friends penned heartfelt goodbye messages to their friend and co-star, who passed away on October 29. Matthew Perry, best known for playing the lovable and goofy Chandler Bing in the smash hit TV show Friends, passed away after being found unconscious in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. Days after his shocking demise, all the five lead co-actors in the sitcom opened up about their relationship with Matthew and paid tributes by sharing moving notes along with an image of him closest to their heart.
Sharing an image taken at the iconic Friends set, Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green in the sitcom, wrote that it was very difficult to say goodbye to Matthew. “Oh boy this one has cut deep... Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be. For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn't hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been poring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all. (See the second slide…) Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying “could you BE any crazier?” Rest little brother. You always made my day…” she posted.
Addressing him as Matty, David Schwimmer who played Ross Geller wrote, “Matty, Thank you for ten incredible years of laughter and creativity. I will never forget your impeccable comic timing and delivery. You could take a straight line of dialogue and bend it to your will, resulting in something so entirely original and unexpectedly funny it still astonishes. And you had heart. Which you were generous with, and shared with us, so we could create a family out of six strangers. This photo is from one of my favorite moments with you. Now it makes me smile and grieve at the same time. I imagine you up there, somewhere, in the same white suit, hands in your pockets, looking around— “Could there BE any more clouds?”
Sharing a joke from the sitcom, Matt LeBlanc, who played the role of Joey Tribbiani, a close friend of Chandler, said, “Matthew, It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye. The times we had together are honestly among the favorite times of my life. It was an honor to share the stage with you and to call you my friend. I will always smile when I think of you and I’ll never forget you. Never. Spread your wings and fly brother you’re finally free. Much love. And I guess you’re keeping the 20 bucks you owe me.” In the episode titled The One With the Kips, Monica will falsely accuse Chandler of stealing 20 dollars from her purse, in an attempt to cover up their secret relationship. Joey looks absolutely horrified and says he also constantly loses twenty bucks.
Courteney Cox, who played Monica Geller - partner of Chandler, shared a scene from the episode The One With Ross' Wedding and wrote that Matthew whispered a funny line to her just before the scene and added that he was always like that. “I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day. When you work with someone as closely as I did with Matthew, there are thousands of moments I wish I could share. For now, here’s one of my favorites. To give a little backstory, Chandler and Monica were supposed to have a one night fling in London. But because of the audience’s reaction, it became the beginning of their love story. In this scene, before we started rolling, he whispered a funny line for me to say. He often did things like that. He was funny and he was kind.”
Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay, shared an image from the initial days of the sitcom and wrote, “Shot the pilot, Friends Like Us, got picked up then immediately, we were at the NBC Upfronts. Then… You suggested we play poker AND made it so much fun while we initially bonded. Thank you for that. Thank you for making me laugh so hard at something you said, that my muscles ached, and tears poured down my face EVERY DAY. Thank you for your open heart in a six-way relationship that required compromise. And a lot of “talking.” Thank you for showing up at work when you weren’t well and then, being completely brilliant. Thank you for the best 10 years a person gets to have. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for all I learned about GRACE and LOVE through knowing you. Thank you for the time I got to have with you, Matthew.”
Though Matthew Perry is best known for his iconic Friends character Chandler Bing, for his witty one-liners, he had said that he did not want Friends to be the first thing everyone remembers about him. In an interview in 2022, he said, "The best thing about me, bar none, is that if somebody comes to me and says, 'I can't stop drinking, can you help me?' I can say 'yes' and follow up and do it. When I die, I don't want 'Friends' to be the first thing that's mentioned. I want that to be the first thing that's mentioned. And I'm gonna live the rest of my life proving that."
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