Matt LeBlanc and Courteney Cox have paid tribute to their late Friends co-star Matthew Perry, sharing their favorite moments with the actor.
On Tuesday (Nov. 14, 2023), more than two weeks after Perryโs death, LeBlanc posted a poignant message to his Instagram page saying goodbye to his friend. Alongside a selection of pictures showing the pair in their roles as Joey Tribbiani and Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom, LeBlanc, 56, wrote: โMatthew. It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye.
โThe times we had together are honestly among the favorite times of my life. It was an honor to share the stage with you and to call you my friend.
โI will always smile when I think of you and Iโll never forget you. Never. Spread your wings and fly brother youโre finally free.
โMuch love. And I guess youโre keeping the 20 bucks you owe me.โ
Cox also shared one of her favorite moments of her late co-star.
The actor, who played Monica Geller, who married Chandler Bing in the show, said she is โso grateful for every momentโ she had alongside Perry. She wrote on Instagram beside a clip from the show: โWhen you work with someone as closely as I did with Matthew, there are thousands of moments I wish I could share. For now, hereโs one of my favorites.โ
โTo give a little backstory, Chandler and Monica were supposed to have a one-night fling in London. But because of the audienceโs reaction, it became the beginning of their love story.โ
โIn this scene, before we started rolling, he whispered a funny line for me to say. He often did things like that. He was funny and he was kind.โ
Other cast members paid tribute after Perryโs death. Maggie Wheeler, who played Chandlerโs on-and-off girlfriend Janice Hosenstein, said in an Instagram statement that she felt โblessedโ to have spent creative moments with Perry.
The Simpsons voice actor Hank Azaria, who played David โ a love interest of Phoebe, played by Kudrow, in several episodes of the show โ said in a video posted to his social media that his โgeniusโ friend Perry had helped to get him sober.
In 2022, Perry released his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, in which he spoke candidly about dealing with an addiction to drugs and alcohol. The Matthew Perry Foundation was set up in the starโs memory after his death, promising to continue his commitment to โhelping others struggling with the disease of addiction.โ
Los Angeles police responded to a radio call just after 4 pm on October 28, 2023, for a death investigation of a male in his 50s, the PA news agency understands. A statement from Capt. Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department to PA said they had found a โmale unconscious in a stand-alone Jacuzzi.โ