Matthew Perry was one of six actors who rose to fame as part of the cast of the NBC sitcom Friends. Perry, who played Chandler Bing for 10 years on the series, passed away Saturday at the age of 54.
A year prior to his death, Matthew Perry released his memoir titled “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” In the book he recalled the show’s final episode and shared how he got to utter the last scripted line of the series.
“Before that final episode, I’d taken [co-creator/EP] Marta Kauffman to one side,” Perry wrote. “‘Nobody else will care about this except me,’ I said. ‘So, may I please have the last line?’ That’s why as we all troop out of the apartment, and Rachel has suggested one last coffee, I got to bring the curtain down on Friends.”
Perry starred alongside Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), Courteney Cox (Monica), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe), David Schwimmer (Ross) and Matt LeBlanc (Joey) in the show that ran from 1994 to 2004 for a total of 236 episodes. Friends only grew in popularity during its television run and the series finale drew more than 52 million viewers, making it the fifth-most-watched series finale in television history.
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Perry’s final line was only one word, but it was the perfect ending for a character who was known for his brash and sarcastic one-liners.
In Friends’ final scene, the six characters, along with Chandler and Monica’s twin babies, gather in Monica’s empty apartment and briefly reminisce before ceremoniously placing their keys on the kitchen counter. Rachel suggests that the group go out for coffee. Everyone agrees before Chandler asks, “Where?”
“I love the look on Schwimmer’s face as I deliver that line — it’s the perfect mixture of affection and amusement, exactly what the show Friends had always given to the world,” Perry wrote of his delivery of the final line.
Matthew Perry died Saturday (October 28) at the age of 54 in an “apparent drowning.”
TMZ was the first to report the news of Perry’s death, saying that authorities responded to a call to a Los Angeles-area home for a cardiac arrest. When they arrived they found Perry deceased, appearing to have drowned in a jacuzzi. They also added that no drugs were found at the scene and no foul play is suspected.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson told PEOPLE that officers responded to a call stating that a man in his 50s was deceased at Perry’s address, but declined to confirm his identity.
Watch Matthew Perry deliver his final line on Friends in the clip below.