With the upcoming release of Matthew Perry's memoir, Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing, the classic sitcom, Friends, has once again enjoyed a resurgence of syndication popularity. Perry's book is purported to reveal the gritty and grimy details of his long road in and out of recovery and while it released on November 1st, fans have already tasted bits and pieces through internet leaks of advance copies.
Naturally, some of the more sensationalistic behind-the-scenes info that he's choosing to share with the public has already been at the forefront of media headlines. These are the best revealed secrets in the book that fans will likely be most interested in.
He Had A Thing For Jennifer Aniston
It turns out that early on in their careers, before they were each cast in Friends, Perry harbored a longstanding crush on his future cast mate and current star of The Morning Show. At one point he asked her out, but she turned him down. Perry said, "Fairly early in the making of ‘Friends,’ I realized that I was still crushing badly on Jennifer Aniston. Our hellos and goodbyes became awkward. And then I’d ask myself, How long can I look at her? Is three seconds too long?"
Perry goes on to extoll several components of Aniston's influences on his life, including being the first one of the cast to confront him about his drinking, as well as being the first Friend who wanted to leave the show.
He Has A Strange Anti-Keanu Reeves Stance
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Oddly enough, Perry seems to be the sole member of the Screen Actors' Guild who doesn't think John Wick action movie star Keanu Reeves is the nicest guy in Hollywood. On at least two separate occasions within his memoir, Perry took random jabs at Reeves: "It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down. Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?"
Later Perry relays his reaction to Chris Farley's overdose death, saying, "I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves walks among us." This week, Perry released an official statement apologizing, insisting he simply chose a random name.
Julia Roberts Made Him Write A Paper On Quantum Physics
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Ticket To Paradise star, Julia Roberts, was offered the role of Susie Moss in a two-part Super Bowl Friends episode in 1996, but insisted she'd only consider it if she was part of Chandler's story arc. Perry was thrilled to discover she was a fan of his character, yet Roberts told him he'd have to explain quantum physics to her before she agreed to appear on the show.
Perry wrote, "The following day, I sent her a paper all about wave-particle duality and the uncertainty principle and entanglement, and only some of it was metaphorical." The two went on to become a couple before the episode even aired, yet eventually, Perry said he self-sabotaged and broke up with the world's most famous actress.
He Was In A Coma & Almost Died
It's hard to imagine the quick-witted Chandler Bing facing real-life addiction issues, but it's even harder to consider the dire straits in which Matthew Perry found himself in 2019. According to the memoir, after years of OxyContin abuse, he found himself waking up after spending two weeks in a coma to discover he'd required emergency ostomy surgery to save his life.
He claimed that the prospect of facing a lifelong need to use a colostomy bag was the catalyst that finally drove him to sobriety, but that offended many in the ostomy community, who claim his language promotes negative stereotypes for those who require such life-saving measures.
Could There Be A More Famous Catchphrase?
The character of Chandler Bing was the last to be cast on Friends, according to Perry, and when he auditioned for the role in front of show creator Marta Kauffman, he went decidedly against the usual actor reading grain.
He apparently read his lines in an unexpected fashion, hitting emphases and cadences that no other actors had done prior to his reading, and got laughs from those in the room where nobody else had. He begged the producers in later seasons to let him drop Chandler's most famous verbal line, but thankfully for fans, they refused.
He Pitched A Fourth Wall Break In Season 8
Breaking the proverbial fourth wall is all the rage these days, as seen in projects like Fleabag, Deadpool and She-Hulk. During Sean Penn’s two-episode guest appearance, Perry pitched an end scene for the Halloween episode that started with him backstage in the now notorious pink bunny rabbit costume.
Perry wrote, “Sean walks by and I say, ‘Sean, can I talk to you for a second? I’ve been giving this a lot of thought and I think you’re a good person to talk to about this. I’ve been looking to transition myself into dramatic work.' Sean Penn looks me up and down for about five beats and just says, ‘Good luck.'” It got as far as the table reading, but the scene never aired, as producers didn't feel the tone of the show warranted that sort of meta-inference.
Season 9 Was The Only One In Which Perry Was Completely Sober
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One of Friends' most memorable highlights was its finale episode in which Chandler and Monica’s wedding finally happened, yet unknown to fans at the time, Matthew Perry was living at a Malibu rehab facility while filming it. By the end of season eight, Perry claims he was at last totally sober and stayed that way for all of season nine. Unsurprisingly, he believes that season was his most successful.
He wrote, “What did I do differently that season? I listened. I didn’t just stand there and wait my turn to speak.” While promoting his book this year, Perry said in a New York Times interview he has been clean presently for 18 months, insisting he was drug and alcohol-free when the Friends reunion aired in May of 2021.
Schwimmer Was A Team Player From Day One
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According to Perry, the now famous story of the cast members' collective negotiations for their industry watermark salaries came from a rather altruistic suggestion from David Schwimmer way back in the first season. Though Schwimmer was regarded as the breakout star of the show initially, he came to speak to the others and suggested they renegotiate their contracts as a team, rather than individually.
Perry explains, “It was a decision that proved to be extremely lucrative down the line. David had certainly been in a position to go for the most money, and he didn’t. … It gave us a tremendous amount of power. By season eight, we were making a million dollars per episode; by season 10, we were making even more.”
Cameron Diaz Wasn't Into Him & Accidentally Punched Him
In his book, Perry goes into a short list of some of his more memorable celebrity dates, including one with Cameron Diaz that evidently didn't go so well. Perry was set up with Diaz through mutual friends and they attended a group dinner party together, but claims she wasn't interested in him at all and proceeded to get 'immediately stoned' upon arrival.
During a game of Pictionary, Perry says he said something 'witty' to her and she accidentally hit him in the face while trying to punch his shoulder in jest, to which Perry apparently replied, "Are you fu**ing kidding me?" Seemingly, Perry putting on his best face failed to impress the famously eclectic Diaz.
He Fooled Around With Valerie Bertinelli Next To Eddie Van Halen
Perhaps the most potentially awkward revelation from Perry's memoir is his reveal of having fallen madly in love with his co-star, Valerie Bertinelli, on the set of pre-Friends sitcom, Sydney. Perry was obsessed with her, knowing she was in a troubled marriage with legendary rock star, Eddie Van Halen.
He elaborates: "As the night progressed, it was clear that Eddie had enjoyed the fruits of the vine a little too hard, one more time, and eventually, he just passed out, not 10 feet away from us, but still, this was my chance! If you think I didn't actually have a chance in hell you'd be wrong, dear reader — Valerie and I had a long, elaborate make-out session."