"Friends" Creators Reflect on How the 'Huge Loss' of Matthew Perry Makes Show's 30th Anniversary 'a Little Fraught'
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09/20/2024 02:58 PM
Perry died after an accidental drug overdose in Oct. 2023
Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Courteney Cox Arquette as Monica Geller, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller in 'Friends'.As the 30th anniversary of Friends approaches, the show's creators are reflecting on marking the milestone without Matthew Perry.
Creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane spoke about the loss of Perry — who died after an accidental drug overdose — on Oct. 28, 2023, in an interview with Todayahead of the anniversary of the hit NBC sitcom's premiere on Sunday, Sept. 22
"It's a huge loss and it does make the 30th a little fraught," Kauffman said as Crane added, "He made us laugh every day."
Kauffman also recalled how "David always said [Matthew] was the funniest man in a room."
Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic; Axel Koester/Corbis via Getty
From left: Matthew Perry; David Crane and Marta KauffmanRelated: Friends Cast: Where Are They Now?
The actor's death came more than two years after the cast of Friends — including Perry, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer — reunited for the unscripted special Friends: The Reunion in May 2021.
"He'd been fighting the good fight for so long, and it did really like, from the reunion, that he had finally found some peace," executive producer Kevin Bright told Today.
Speaking with The Times for a 30th-anniversary retrospective of the iconic television series in August, Kauffman opened up about how viewers should celebrate Perry.
Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Actors clockwise from bottom left, Courteney Cox as 'Monica Geller', Matt LeBlanc as 'Joey Tribbiani', Lisa Kudrow as 'Phoebe Buffay', David Schwimmer as 'Ross Geller', Matthew Perry as 'Chandler Bing', Jennifer Aniston as 'Rachel Green' in a 'Friends' group portrait, June 15th 1994."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," she said.
"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," Kauffman, 67, told the outlet.
Related: Friends Instagram Remembers Matthew Perry's 'Light' on What Would Be His 55th Birthday
After Perry's death last year, Kauffman and her Friends co-creator David Crane appeared on Todayto speak about the last exchange they had with the beloved actor.
"It was great," Kauffman recalled at the time. "He was happy and chipper. He didn't seem weighed down by anything. He was in a really good place, which is why this seems so unfair."
In August, federal authorities announced that five people, including two doctors and Perry's personal, live-in assistant, had been charged in connection with his death. The Department of Justice announced that Jasveen Sangha and Dr. Salvador Plascencia are facing charges, while assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, Erik Fleming and Dr. Mark Chavez were charged separately.
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"These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves," United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. "In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring for his well being."
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