Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox Pay Tribute to Late Co-Star Matthew Perry
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The cast of Friends is honoring the memory of costar Matthew Perry, who died on October 28 at 54 years old.
Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the iconic sitcom, was found unresponsive in his Los Angeles home on Saturday afternoon, law enforcement officers confirmed to several outlets, including the Los Angeles Times. An official cause of death has not been provided.
Warner Bros., which produced Friends, issued a statement about the star in response to the news. “We are devastated by the passing of our dear friend Matthew Perry,” it reads. “Matthew was an incredibly gifted actor and an indelible part of the Warner Bros. Television Group family. The impact of his comedic genius was felt around the world, and his legacy will live on in the hearts of so many. This is a heartbreaking day, and we send our love to his family, his loved ones, and all of his devoted fans.”
Below, see the rest of the heartfelt tributes so far.
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston posted an emotional post on Instagram. She wrote, "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…)
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
Matthew's onscreen wife broke her silence and posted on her Instagram, "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." She shared a scene from sitcom and continued, "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. 🤍🕊️
Matt LeBlanc
The Friends star took to Instagram to pay homage to Matthew. He wrote, "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."
Marta Kauffman and David Crane
The creators of Friends paid tribute to the actor while talking to Hoda Kotb on Today. Marta shared she had just spoken to him two weeks prior to his death. "He was happy and chipper. He didn't seem weighed down by anything. He was in a really good place, which is why this feels so unfair," she said. David added, “Given the journey he’d been on, and we were all aware of it, there was always a part that was kind of bracing for something like this. But it is still hard to believe because he was such a sort of alive person that it’s hard to believe he’s not here.” Watch their conversation below.
James Burrow
The legendary director behind the sitcom's first episodes went on Today and said, "I had a couple of days to let it soak in. He was part of a family and he was the first one to not be a part of that family anymore." He also gave us an update on the how the rest of the cast is doing. “I texted the girls the day we found out and they were destroyed. It’s a brother dying,” he shared.
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer
The remaining five co-stars of the sitcom released a statement to People saying, "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 message is then signed by all six of them.
Maggie Wheeler
The actor—who played Chandler's on-and-off girlfriend Janice Hosenstein throughout the sitcom's 10-season run—posted a still from the series in which she and Perry stand arm in arm.
“What a loss,” she wrote. “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
Fairchild—who played Chandler’s mom on the sitcom—shared an image
from the episode “The One with Monica and Chandler’s Wedding.”
“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.”
Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner, who played Helena Handbasket, Chandler’s transgender father, on Friends, is also mourning her onscreen child’s passing.
The actor told People that she is “very sad for Matthew” and remembered a sweet moment they shared. “He came to see one of my Broadway shows and he came backstage,” Turner recalled. “When he saw me, he yelled out, ‘Hey, Dad!’ and everyone thought it was pretty cool. I think it was for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Though the last time Turner saw Perry was at least 10 years ago, she said she always liked him. “He had a good sense of humor and a good heart. He liked other people, which, to me, is terribly important, especially for an actor.”
Hank Azaria
Azaria was a recurring guest star on Friends as Phoebe Buffay’s on-and-off love interest David (the scientist guy).
Over the years, Azaria and Perry became very close, and Azaria said Perry greatly helped him deal with his own battle with addiction—even taking Azaria to his first AA meeting. Upon learning of Perry’s death, Azaria shared a heartfelt video tribute to his friend on Instagram, in which he recalled the great times they had together, and what a genuine, loving person Perry was when he was sober.
Calling Perry his “first friend” in Los Angeles, Azaria praised the comedian, saying that they were “really more like brothers for a long time.”
"We drank a lot together, and we laughed a lot together. We were there for each other in the early days of our career,” Azaria said. “He was as funny as he was on Friends and on other things too, in person he was just the funniest man ever.”
Azaria noted that Perry was a comedic genius and “lived to laugh.” The only thing he wishes, he said, is that Perry had found it in himself to remain sober, and that the world had gotten to see more of him.
See the emotional post here.
Elliot Gould
Elliot Gould, who played Ross and Monica Geller's father, and Chandler Bing's father-in-law, in Friends, remembered Perry warmly in an Instagram post. “I was saddened to hear the news about Matthew Perry‘s passing,” he wrote next to a throwback photo of them together. “I first met Matthew in 1994 when I joined the NBC sitcom Friends. Matthew was kind, thoughtful, smart, funny, and just a terrifically, talented actor. Matthew told me he was so honored to be working with me. What he didn’t know until I told him, was that it was my privilege to play his father-in-law. My heart goes out to his wonderful family. He will be missed by so many but he will never be forgotten.”
Aisha Tyler
The actress played Ross Geller's short-term, fellow paleontologist girlfriend, Charlie Wheeler, in the sitcom. Upon Perry's death, she shared a message on Instagram in his honor. “He had a gentleness and generosity of spirit that was unparalleled,” she wrote next to a black-and-white photo of Perry. “I learned how to tell a joke perfectly just by watching him work. And I will never forget the moment he leaned in, on my first night of taping Friends, to tell me warmly, 'get ready for your life to change.' Rest well, Matthew Perry. Thank you for the kindness and laughter. 🫶🏾💫”
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