Lisa Kudrow Pays Tribute To Friends Co-Star Matthew Perry

In the days following Matthew Perry’s death on Oct. 28, the Friends cast issued a joint statement. Now, Lisa Kudrow is sharing some personal memories of her co-star in a Nov. 15 Instagram tribute.

Starring as Chandler and Phoebe for 10 seasons, the pair became as close off-screen as they were on the classic NBC sitcom. In her post, she recalled the first days of their friendship.

“Shot the pilot, Friends Like Us, got picked up then immediately, we were at the NBC Upfronts,” Kudrow said. “Then…You suggested we play poker AND made it so much fun while we initially bonded. Thank you for that.”

Kudrow’s Tribute

Along with sharing that memory, Kudrow remembered how much Perry made her laugh, and what their Friends relationship with the rest of the cast taught her. “Thank you for making me laugh so hard at something you said, that my muscles ached, and tears poured down my face EVERY DAY,” she continued. “Thank you for your open heart in a six way relationship that required compromise. And a lot of ‘talking.’”

She also acknowledged Perry’s substance use, which he wrote about in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing. “Thank you for showing up at work when you weren’t well and then, being completely brilliant.”

Kudrow concluded her post by thanking Perry “for the best 10 years a person gets to have.” She wrote, “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.”

The One With The Fountain

Kudrow wrote the foreword for Perry’s memoir, recalling when she and the Friends cast shot the opening credits in front of the fountain one night at the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California. It was exhausting, but Perry made her, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, and Matt LeBlanc laugh through it.

“I just focused on Matthew, who could make me laugh so hard every day, and once a week, laugh so hard I cried and couldn’t breathe,” Kudrow wrote about the 1994 shoot. “The same Matthew who, from the beginning, could lift us all up during a grueling night shoot for the opening titles inside that fountain.”

She credited him as “the reason we are all laughing in that fountain in the opening titles.”

If you or someone you know is seeking help for substance use, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).