The cast of Friends shared heartfelt personal tributes to their late co-star Matthew Perry, who played the role of Chandler Bing for 10 seasons on the sitcom.
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwinner and Matt LeBlanc each shared memories of Perry in posts made Tuesday and Wednesday, nearly three weeks after the beloved actor was found deceased at his Los Angeles home on October 28.
The cast, who remained close after the conclusion of Friends in 2004, first shared a joint statement two days after Matthew’s death.
“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just castmates. 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,” the statement read. “In time we will say more, as and when we are able,” their statement continued. “For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”
In the days since, the cast mates guarded their privacy as they mourned the Perry’s death. But, in what was likely a joint decision, they each broke their silence this week by posting their own messages about and photos of their friend. Read each of their tribute posts below.
Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox, who played Perry’s love interest, Monica Geller, shared one of her favorite clips from the show and praised her co-star for his humor and kindness.
“I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day,” Cox wrote. “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.”
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David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer, who portrayed Ross Geller, shared a photo of himself with Matthew in what he called one of his favorite moments. “Now it makes me smile and grieve at the same time.” Schwimmer also praised Perry’s comedic timing and his generous heart.
“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,” David Schwimmer said. “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?”
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Matt LeBlanc
Matt LeBlanc starred as Matthew Perry’s character’s roommate, Joey Tribbiani. In a short but sweet post to social media, Matt remembered his friend with a series a photos from their time together on Friends as well as a brief note to the late actor.
“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,” he wrote.
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Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston portrayed Rachel Green for the show’s ten seasons. The actress, who went on to greater Hollywood success after Friends ended, shared the lengthiest tribute to Perry. Referring to him as “little brother,” Aniston detailed the pain surrounding his death and remembered his ability to make her laugh.
“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,” Aniston wrote. “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 poring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again.”
She added, “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?'”
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Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Kudrow was the last cast member to pay tribute to Matthew Perry. In a heartfelt note that accompanied a photo of the two of them together, Kudrow simply thanked Perry for special moments and lessons that he taught her.
“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.”
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See one of our favorite Friends moments in the clip below.