All five members of the core Friends cast have now paid tribute to their late co-star, Matthew Perry.
Perry, who played sarcastic jokester Chandler Bing in the mega-popular US sitcom, was found dead in his home in Los Angeles aged 54.
Following the news, his five co-stars – Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow – released a joint statement asking for time to “process this unfathomable loss”.
They wrote: “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.”
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week (14 and 15 November), the actors posted individual tributes to Perry on their social media accounts, sharing fond memories of the actor.
Matt LeBlanc
LeBlanc, 56, who played Chandler’s best friend Joey Tribbiani, was the first to break his silence.
He shared a series of stills from Friends on Instagram, writing: “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.”
Courteney Cox
Cox, 59, who played Chandler’s friend turned lover Monica Geller, was the second to post on Tuesday.
“I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day,” Cox wrote on Instagram alongside a scene from the 1998 episode, “The One with Ross’s Wedding”.
“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,” she wrote.
Jennifer Aniston
Aniston, 54, who played Rachel Green, posted on Instagram on Wednesday, sharing a recent text message she received from Perry.
“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,” the Morning Show star, 54, began.
“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 poring 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…),” Aniston continued.
“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?’” she concluded. “Rest little brother. You always made my day…”
David Schwimmer
Schwimmer, 57, who played hopeless romantic Ross Geller, shared an image of him and Perry together in character during a rare flashback episode.
“Matty, thank you for ten incredible years of laughter and creativity,” Schwimmer wrote. “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.”
He continued: “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?’”
Lisa Kudrow
Phoebe Buffay actor Kudrow, 60, rounded out the quintet of Friends stars on Wednesday with her post.
Kudrow shared a never-before-seen Polaroid photo of her and Perry on Instagram with the caption: “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.”
All five stars attended Perry’s 3 November funeral service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.
Earlier this week, his death certificate was released by the Los Angeles Police Department.
According to the paperwork, Perry’s cause of death remains “deferred” pending further investigation, after initial toxicology tests revealed there was “no meth or fentanyl” in his system at the time of his death.
