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Matthew Perry’s Friends Costars FINALLY Speak Out Post His Untimely Death: Leaves Fans Dejected!
Growing up, Friends was perhaps the only comfort show that I would keep going back to. It was inevitable. And years later, I still can’t help going back to Friends whenever I feel low. And not just that.
But every time I come back from work, and I feel like watching something, I go to Friends because I am too tired to wrap my head around a new plotline.
And then there are those nights when my boyfriend and I cannot agree on anything, grumpily settling down with a bowl of pasta in front of the TV to watch Friends – that’s one show we always agree upon!
So, it was devastating on a personal level to wake up to a world where Matthew Perry did not exist. When Gunther A.K.A. James Michael Tyler passed away very close to the reunion from cancer in 2021, I couldn’t help thinking about the day when I heard about the death of one of the six – and in only two years, that day arrived.
It’s been a few days since the world bid farewell to Chandler. I have been constantly checking the Instagram pages of the other five, wondering what they have to say. Of course, I didn’t expect them to react immediately – it is so difficult to react when you lose someone very close.
But the Big Five and the show co-creators have finally released a joint statement to People Magazine exclusively. And we are here to go through this emotional journey together. Stay tuned.
Matthew Perry’s ‘Friends’ Finally Speak Out:
The cast of Friends is currently mourning one of their very own.
48 hours after the sudden death of Matthew Perry, his ‘friends’ – David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, and Jennifer Aniston – spoke out exclusively to People in a joint statement.
The statement reads,
“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now, we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss. In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”
The statement has then been signed by Schwimmer, LeBlanc, Kudrow, Cox, and Aniston.
For an entire decade, Perry played wry wingman-turned-leading man Chandler Bing in an iconic comic performance that eventually got him nominated for the Emmys in 2002.
Co-creators and Executive Producer On Perry’s Untimely Death:
Co-creators of the series, David Crane and Martha Kauffman, were joined by Kevin Bright, executive producer, on Sunday in releasing a joint statement.
They wrote, “We are shocked and deeply, deeply saddened by our beloved friend Matthew’s passing. It still seems impossible. All we can say is that we feel blessed to have had him as part of our lives. He was a brilliant talent. We will always cherish the joy, the light, the blinding intelligence he brought to every moment — not just to his work, but in life as well. He was always the funniest person in the room. More than that, he was the sweetest, with a giving and selfless heart.”
Talking about the late actor’s breakout performance, they said, “It’s a cliche to say that an actor makes a role their own, but in Matthew’s case, there are no truer words. From the day we first heard him embody the role of Chandler Bing, there was no one else for us.”
The joint statement also comprised condolences for everyone mourning Perry and a sweet reference to the show’s title tradition, “We send all of our love to his family and friends. This truly is The One Where Our Hearts Are Broken.”
The Other Cast Members Of Friends Had Plenty To Say As Well:
Among the other cast favorites who paid tribute to Matthew Perry was Maggie Wheeler, famously known for portraying Janice, Chandler’s on-and-off girlfriend on the show.
Wheeler took to Instagram to say, “What a loss. The world will miss you, Mathew Perry. The joy you brought to so many in your too short lifetime will live on. I feel so very blessed by every creative moment we shared.”
Morgan Fairchild, known for playing Chandler’s mother on the show, shared her sorrow over the tragedy. On Saturday, only hours after news of the actor’s death broke, she wrote, “I’m heartbroken about the untimely death of my ‘son,’ Matthew Perry. The loss of such a brilliant young actor is a shock. I’m sending love & condolences to his friends & family, especially his dad, John Bennett Perry, who I worked with on Flamingo Road & Falcon Crest. #RIPMatthew”
Looking Back At Perry’s Relationship With Friends-Costars, Substance Abuse, And Everything In Between:
In Perry’s book Friends … ‘Til the End, released in 2004, he recalled, “I was 24 when I got on the show. I’ll be 34 when it’s over, and those are really important years in somebody’s life. So to do it all in public … was difficult. At first, you have the wave of ‘I’m famous, and this is exactly what I’ve wanted my whole life.’ But then you go through the whole recluse stage where you think, ‘I wish everybody would stop staring at me.’ And then you eventually, hopefully, get through all that. You find things in your life that are grounding, like your family and good friends.”
The cast of the show reunited in 2021 for People’s Cover story supporting the unscripted special ‘Friends: The Reunion,’ which premiered on HBO Max this May. At the time, Kudrow told PEOPLE, “I feel like we can pick up right where we left off, and no time’s passed. We’re connected no matter what.”
Perry also appeared on a People cover story solo a year later to promote his Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing memoir, the star spoke about how the cast of Friends supported him in the midst of his continuous relationships with substance abuse.
He said, “They were understanding, and they were patient. It’s like penguins. In nature, when one is sick or very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up and walk around until that penguin can walk on its own. And that’s kind of what the cast did for me.”
Perry was discovered dead at his home in the Los Angeles area on Saturday. At the time, he was only 54.
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