On June 26th in the show “Friends”, Lisa Kudrow, who played the lead role “Phoebe”, admitted that she was unable to watch the series before because she found watching her own acting extremely embarrassing. However, she now has the courage to watch “Friends” because she misses Matthew Perry.
The 60-year-old Lisa Kudrow became famous for her quirky portrayal of the massage therapist “Phoebe” on “Friends” and won an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lisa had previously confessed that she couldn’t watch the classic sitcom “Friends” because her performance made her cringe. However, after the untimely passing of Matthew Perry, one of the main actors last year, her perspective changed.
Lisa said, “Honestly, I couldn’t watch it because it was too embarrassing to see myself. But if I turn it into Matthew’s story, then it’s okay. It’s just a way to celebrate how funny he was— and those stories are what I want to remember about him.”
In addition to Lisa, “Friends” starred David Schwimmer as “Ross”, Courteney Cox as “Monica”, Matt LeBlanc as “Joey”, Jennifer Aniston as “Rachel”, and Matthew Perry as “Chandler”.
As Lisa revisited the show, she mentioned, “I burst out laughing, everyone is so funny. Courteney Cox blew my mind, Jennifer captivated me, and clearly, Matthew was a one-of-a-kind comedy star. No one before him knew that kind of rhythm and comedic timing. Matt LeBlanc is hilarious, and David Schwimmer as well.”
Lisa jokingly added, “Sometimes, I even laugh at things I do myself, so what I mean is, this is just my little way of remembering, just watching. But it’s embarrassing, if someone walked into the room at home and saw me watching ‘Friends,’ it would look pretty scary, don’t you think?”
Matthew passed away on October 28th, 2023, at the age of 54 due to the acute effects of ketamine. The coroner at the time indicated that the ketamine in his body could not have come from IV therapy as the half-life of ketamine is three to four hours, or even shorter.
According to People, a law enforcement source recently revealed that the police investigation into Matthew’s cause of death is nearing conclusion, and they believe “multiple individuals” could face charges related to his death. The final decision on whether to press charges will be made by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. However, the office has declined to comment on this matter.
In early June, Jennifer shared a prank she and Matthew played on Lisa during an Actors on Actors program with Variety, saying, “Matthew Perry and I were having lunch somewhere, and we knew Lisa Kudrow was getting her hair dyed. So we burst into the hair salon, and then I quietly went over.”
Jennifer explained that Lisa’s head was still in the sink at the time, “I grabbed the showerhead from the hairdresser, and started shampooing Lisa, unfortunately, this would of course go awry, but our excitement at the time, felt like just yesterday.”