Lisa Kudrow rounds out the Friends cast with her own Matthew Perry tribute
"Thank you for the best 10 years a person gets to have," Lisa Kudrow wrote about Matthew Perry
Over the past few days, the main cast of Friends have all posted individual tributes to late actor Matthew Perry, which have ranged from hilarious to heartbreaking and everything in between. These heartfelt messages come after a short silence while the cast “[took] a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss,” as they wrote in a statement immediately following the announcement.
In her post, Lisa Kudrow took some time to thank Matthew Perry for everything he did for her and for the rest of the group. “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,” she wrote, shouting out the initial name of the well-loved series.
Kudrow’ post continues:
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.
Both Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer also referenced the joy Perry brought to their “family [created] of six strangers,” to use Schwimmer’s words. “He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us,” Aniston wrote. “This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be.
In her post, Kudrow also references Perry’s struggle with addiction especially during his time on Friends. Perry was very open about this part of his journey as well as the process of getting clean before his death, especially in his memoir Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing. In recent years, Perry was very active in helping others struggling with substance abuse and had planned to launch a foundation to further this work. Earlier this month, a new foundation called the Matthew Perry Foundation was launched in his honor to do just that.