“I’ll be there for you…” After actors Matt LeBlanc and Courteney Cox the day before, the other stars of FriendsJennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow in turn expressed on Wednesday their personal tribute to Matthew Perry, co-star of the series, who died at the end of October in California.
“Oh dear, that’s a hard blow,” Jennifer Aniston wrote on Instagram, who played “Rachel” in this cult soap opera, which followed the daily life of a group of happy friends in New York. “We loved him deeply. It was part of our DNA. There have always been six of us. They were a chosen family that forever changed our identity and our journey. » The actress accompanied her publication with a photo where she laughs with Matthew Perry, followed by a text where the interpreter of the hilarious “Chandler” told her: “Making you laugh brightened my day”.
This message “says it all,” she said. “Matty knew he liked to make people laugh. (…) If he didn’t hear this laugh, he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And that’s what he managed to do. He made us all laugh. And burst out laughing. »
“Thank you for these ten incredible years”
Aged 54, Matthew Perry was found unconscious on October 28 by his assistant in a jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles.
David Schwimmer, who played “Ross”, the love interest of “Rachel” in the series, for his part posted a photo on Instagram of one of his “favorite moments” with his ex-colleague: we see his character and “Chandler”, in vintage blue and white costumes, in the style of the series “Two Cops in Miami”. This photo “makes me smile and saddens me at the same time,” explained the actor.
“Thank you for ten incredible years of laughter and creativity,” he added. “I will never forget your impeccable comic sense. You could take banal dialogue and bend it to your will, making it into something so original, unexpected and funny that it still surprises you. »
Co-stars “totally devastated”
On Wednesday morning, Lisa Kudrow, who played “Phoebe”, the crazy girl of the group, for her part published a photo of her and Matthew Perry taken shortly after filming the first episode of the series. “Thank you for the best ten years anyone could have. (…) Thank you for everything I learned about grace and love from knowing you,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Thank you for coming to work when you weren’t feeling well and being totally brilliant,” added the actress, who prefaced the actor’s memoir, in which he discussed his addiction issues and confided having followed 65 detoxification treatments.
The entire cast of Friends had released a joint statement where Cox, LeBlanc, Aniston, Schwimmer and Kudrow said they were “totally devastated”, two days after the death of Matthew Perry. But until this week, none of them had spoken out in their personal capacity.
A fierce fight against addiction
The causes of Matthew Perry’s death are still not known. The actor had been battling his addiction to drugs and alcohol for years.
According to the specialized media TMZ, no drugs were found at the scene of the actor’s death and there is no indication that it could be a criminal act.