Nearly one year before his death, Matthew Perry revealed that he asked “Friends” producer Marta Kauffman to give him the final line of the series.
“No one else will care about this except me,” Perry wrote in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.”
“So may I please have the last line?” he asked.
Perry’s wish, of course, was granted as the Season 10 finale ended with Chandler and Monica (played by Perry and Courteney Cox) saying goodbye to their empty apartment alongside Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Ross (David Schwimmer).
At one point, Rachel suggests they all go grab a final cup of coffee before Chandler and Monica depart New York City and go to live in the suburbs with their new family.
“Sure,” Perry responds. “Where?” As dedicated viewers know, the group would always meet up at their local Central Perk coffee place.
“I got to bring the curtain down on Friends,” the actor wrote. “I love the look on Schwimmer’s face as I deliver that line — it’s the perfect mixture of affection and amusement, exactly what the show ‘Friends’ had always given to the world.”
Perry’s revelation resurfaced mere days after the “Serving Sara” star was found submerged and unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. He died at the scene at age 54 on Oct. 28.
Several fans have taken to social media to react to Perry’s “Friends” revelation.
“This was the perfect last words on ‘Friends,’” one fan stated. “Inside joke was that the Central Perk set had already been taken down.”
“I cried my eyes out during the finale,” a second user noted. “I cry even harder now knowing we’ll never see the six together the same way.”
“Everyone’s reaction to the ‘Where’ was impeccable and sincere,” a third fan wrote.
The “Friends” finale aired on NBC in 2004. Years later, the cast reunited for a HBO Max special in 2021.
Following his death, Kauffman revealed that she was “concerned” about Perry when the cast came together for the project.
“Yes, I was concerned about him,” she told the “Today” show during a pre-taped interview last week. “Knowing that he’d been through everything he’d been through, and every time he had surgery they’re giving him opioids for pain, and the cycle starts over again.”
She added: “So, yes, I was concerned about what point in the cycle he was in that moment.”
Days before the HBO Max special filmed, Perry was forced to undergo “emergency dental surgery,” which resulted in slurred speech.
“They did all sorts of things,” the “Fools Rush In” star later told Diane Sawyer in October 2022, adding that the work done to him “made [his] mouth feel like fire.”
While Perry acknowledged the fact that his “voice was off,” he said that he “couldn’t not show up” to the long-awaited gathering.
“So what I chose to do was just go and do the best that I could,” Perry told the journalist.
According to Kauffman, the actor seemed to be in high spirits shortly before his untimely death.
“He seemed better than I had seen in a while. I was so thrilled to see that. He was emotionally in a good place. He looked good. He quit smoking,” Kauffman stated. “He learned things throughout this, and what he learned more than anything is that he wants to help other addicts. And it gave him purpose.”
Perry’s “Friends” co-stars released a joint statement following the tragedy, and attended what was presumed to be a funeral service for the late actor in LA on Friday.
“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” read their 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,” the statement continued. “For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”
Source link
