Although Friends was his claim to fame—and the source of countless sweater vests—Matthew Perry isn’t exactly dying to revisit Central Perk (though these days, even someone with Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip money might long for that rent-controlled Manhattan). It’s not just that Perry’s moved on to other projects, most recently The Kennedys: Decline And Fall and the now-defunct Odd Couple remake. It also turns out The Rembrandts lied, and it’s proven to be a fruitless endeavor to try to get all six core cast members—Perry, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Leblanc, and David Schwimmer—in the same room.
But Perry’s reluctance is actually born of a desire not to diminish all that the show accomplished in its 10 seasons, as well as a not unreasonable fear that no one would give a shit these days. Not even the warm reception for Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life and Twin Peaks has bolstered Perry’s confidence—the actor tells Variety that he lies awake at night, worrying that Friends would be ruined for everyone if they all met up in middle age.
When asked if he’d like to board the nostalgia-driven reboot train with his small-screen pals, Perry says: “I have this recurring nightmare – I’m not kidding about this. When I’m asleep, I have this nightmare that we do Friends again and nobody cares. We do a whole series, we come back, and nobody cares about it. So if anybody asks me, I’m gonna say no. The thing is: We ended on such a high. We can’t beat it. Why would we go and do it again?“ If you’re suddenly concerned that your desire for a Friends reunion is what’s keeping Matthew Perry up at night, rest assured that he’s also pretty busy starring in the play he wrote, The Edge Of Longing.