Of all the people mourning the loss of the much-loved Matthew Perry, his Friends co-stars must surely be among those sitting deepest in their grief.
Perry, best known for his work as Chandler Bing, was found dead in the hot tub of his LA home in late October. His sudden passing came as a shock to his legion of fans, as well as the entertainment industry as a whole.
Perry himself was well aware of the fact that he would be most synonymous with Friends in the event of his passing, and so it was that the world waited to see how the other main cast members of the show would react in light of the tragedy.
Following their joint statement made a few days after Perry’s death, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, and Lisa Kudrow have remained silent until now.
“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” the cast said in their initial, joint statement.
“There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss. In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”
The five were all in attendance at Perry’s Forest Lawn, Hollywood funeral on November 3, and sources close to the likes of Aniston and Cox spoke of their great pain and suffering following their friend’s passing.
According to a Hollywood insider, Aniston has been struggling with the loss of Perry the most.
“All five of the Friends cast are in real bad shape, but Jen’s by far taking this the worst,” the insider told Woman’s Day.
“She’s torturing herself with each and every scenario where she could have done this or should have said that. She was one of the last people to speak to him, and she’d planned on calling him on Sunday [the day after he died]. She’s been going over every word, but no one could have known.”
The insider stated: “The real pain is the fact she’s been with him almost every step of the way. She had huge hopes for a big comeback for Matthew, and they were talking about working on a new script together. There was so much to look forward to, but even Jen knows it was his body that gave out, not Matthew.
“She knows he wanted to live, which makes his premature death unbelievably cruel. He had so much more to give. She’s absolutely crushed, and it will take her a long time to recover. She will never be convinced she didn’t do everything she could to save him, but she truly did. The world had Matthew Perry for a lot longer than expected thanks to Jen and Courteney Cox helping him through those dark times.”
Reflecting on the tragedy individually for the first time, Perry’s cast mates this week shared their thoughts on social media.
For Aniston’s part, that included a screenshot of a text message shared between herself and the late actor, where he told her that making her laugh “made my day”.
Aniston had responded to the message by writing: “Awww the first of THOUSANDS of times…”
Rest in peace, Matthew Perry, and thanks for the memories.
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