News of the passing of Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing in one of the most popular sitcoms of the ’90s, struck the world last week. Many, including co-stars of the Friends actor have shared heartfelt tributes in mourning of Perry, who passed away at the age of 54 in October.
According to a statement released by People, Perry lost his life to an apparent drowning in his Los Angeles home on Saturday 28 October. Perry was found dead in his jacuzzi.
Perry, who played Chandler Bing in Friends, released his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing in November 2022, detailing his rise to fame on the popular ’90s sitcom, his battle with addiction to opioid painkillers, an intense medical journey after rupturing his colon due to this addiction, and his journey towards sobriety.
Matthew, who is loved by thousands of fans and a close-knit group of Friends co-stars, has had a number of tributes written in celebration of his career and his friendships. In fact, three of the six Friends actors recently took to Instagram, grieving the huge loss.
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Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green in the sitcom, took to Instagram sharing a screenshot of a text from Matthew, along with an image of the two laughing together. Aniston writes:
“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 weeks, I’ve been pouring 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…)”
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Jennifer concludes:
“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…❤️🕊️”
Courteney Cox, who played Monica Geller – girlfriend and then wife to Chandler in Friends – also took to social media to pen a tribute to the late actor. Cox shares a scene of Monica and Chandler from a popular Friends episode, writing:
“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.”
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She fondly remembered the moment filming with Perry:
“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. 🤍🕊️”
David Schwimmer, who played Ross – Monica’s brother and Chandler’s friend in the sitcom – shared the following words in remembrance of his co-star-turned-family:
“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.”
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“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?'”
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Feature Image: Instagram / @jenniferaniston
