Matthew Perry Attends the “Friends” Reunion…Sort Of
So NBC delivered on their promise to feature every single member of the main Friends cast – and we are more than happy to see them all in one place (although Matthew Perry was in a virtual, recorded form).
The special, for those of you who haven’t heard about it before, was a tribute special commemorating the 1,000th episode that James Burrows has directed. It served as a reunion of sorts for the stars of some of his most famous shows including Taxi, Will and Grace, The Big Bang Theory, Frasier, and Cheers. But this event is more widely celebrated as the official reunion of the Friends cast. It wasn’t a reunion episode like we hoped, but at least all of the Friends got to do something onscreen together again, and as fans, we took what we could.
Aside from seeing our favorite actors sit down on an unfamiliar couch, we also got to learn a little more about their work dynamic off-screen, as well as the director’s influence on each show. And the best part is that we got to see Matthew Perry anyway! It was initially reported that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the show because he was working on his play, but NBC did promise previously that he would be playing a very special (pre-taped) role.
So what happened was they brought Chandler in…but only sort of. Matthew Perry’s job, as it turns out, was to introduce the rest of the Friends!
He may not have appeared in person, but he did explain why, and then proceeded to welcome the rest of his co-stars, who were all looking as incredible as ever.
And that’s when the adorable interview happened. David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBanc looked as fabulous as they did back in their Friends days. It was so much fun that we were already chuckling even before they took their respective seats. There was a bit of confusion over who was going to sit where, and it ended with Matt basically picking up Jennifer and shoving her to the side. It wasn’t the most gentlemanly thing to do, but that’s how their friendship works, all rough and fun. In fact, that scene seemed unrehearsed and lighthearted – a winning combination that once translated into fame and fortune for these Hollywood A-listers.
During the actual interview, a couple of juicy trivia were revealed, including how Burrows gave the cast his dressing room, so that they could play poker. This eventually influenced the episode entitled “The One with All the Poker”.
Also, during the early seasons, the cast watched the show together and gave suggestions for each other’s performances. They had a blast working together and had an even better time watching themselves in the show!
Lisa, Jennifer, and Courteney also revealed that they had lunch together every single day for ten years, eating the same food every day. Jennifer used to eat what Courteney called a “Jennifer salad,” which we will never know how to make, as the actress didn’t discuss the secret recipe.
At the end of the day, we’re all just very happy to see that all of them are still good friends, even after the show has ended.