Matthew Perry was an integral part of Friends, and its creator, Marta Kauffman, is shedding light on how important his role was in the show.
On the series’ 30th anniversary, the writer reflected on the late actor, saying, “He is the one I had the most contact with,” adding, “About two weeks before [he died] he and I were FaceTiming and he seemed really good.”
In a tribute to the star who played Chandler Bing in the iconic sitcom, she said his legacy should be memorialized. “Two things come to mind [about how to celebrate him]: One of them is to donate to drug treatment centers — let’s fight the disease.”
“And the second way is to watch Friends and remember him not as a man who died like that but as a man who was hilariously funny and brought joy to everybody.”
Marta’s deep care for Matthew was similarly reflected in her statement with the rest of the creators of Friends on his untimely death last year from ketamine’s acute effects.
“It still seems impossible,” noting, “All we can say is that we feel blessed to have had him as part of our lives.”
“He was a brilliant talent. It’s a cliche to say that an actor makes a role their own, but in Matthew’s case, there are no truer words. From the day we first heard him embody the role of Chandler Bing, there was no one else for us,” it reads.
