International fame can bring colossal drama and pain, but for Matthew Perry and the rest of the Friends cast, sitcom stardom brought them a lasting found family. In fact, while Perry endured some of the hardest trials of his life, Perry would find cause for celebration thanks to the life-changing bond with his colleagues.
The greater Friends community was left heartbroken after Perry’s sudden death on Saturday at the age of 54. Just two years ago, he reunited with his colleagues for HBO Max’s Friends: The Reunion. In it, Perry grew emotional as he discussed all the ways Friends changed his life for the better and how he and his co-stars became friends for life.
Matthew Perry confirmed that the ‘Friends’ cast became friends in real life
Friends ran from 1994 to 2004, but the cast’s friendship lasted far beyond that, according to the late Perry. “The best way that I can describe it is after the show was over, at a party or any kind of social gathering, if one of us bumped into each other, that was it,” said Perry during the reunion event. “That was the end of the night. You just sat with the person all night long and that was it.”
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He added, “You apologized to the people you were with, but they had to understand you had met somebody special to you and you were going to talk to that person for the rest of the night. And that’s the way it worked.”
His colleagues, Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox, emotionally confirmed this sentiment, and Perry concluded, “It’s certainly the way it worked with all of us. It’s just the way it is.”
The show and the people involved helped change Perry’s life
Perry joined Friends during a formative time of his life, starting when he was 24 and not re-emerging until he was 34. Not long before, Perry had more a mind for tennis than for acting, though he would catch the bug in earnest less than a month before landing the role of Chandler.
“It formed my life,” said Perry. “And it was the time of my life.” Overall, Perry said it “changed my life in every way.”
His time filming Friends would also see Perry go through some of the worst struggles of his life, as he battled drug addiction, sometimes taking over 50 pills a day, on top of habitual drinking. But his colleagues lived up to the show’s premise in the most important ways.
“They were understanding, and they were patient,” shared Perry. “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.” Aniston, in particular, would brooch the topic of Perry’s substance abuse and check in on him even years after the show ended.
