Matthew Perry ‘felt like he would die’ with ‘sweating and convulsions’ on Friends set – leaving co-stars shocked
MATTHEW Perry ‘felt like he would die’ with ‘sweating and convulsions’ on the Friends set – leaving his co-stars shocked.
The 51-year-old actor played Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom, giving fans around the world plenty of laughs across the 10 seasons.
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However, Matthew has revealed the pressure he felt to get the laughs throughout the show’s entire run on the Friends reunion show.
The cast discussed how they felt about filming in front of a live audience every week, with David Schwimmer saying: “I really enjoyed the energy of the live audience.”
Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc agreed, as he added: “It was like doing a one act play every week with all of us.”
Courteney Cox then said: “I found myself – when they would laugh at something – I’d think ‘oh if you think that’s funny, wait til you get a load of this next line’.
“I felt this rewarding feeling, or not, or a flat nothing.”
But Matthew admitted he had a different experience entirely, telling his co-stars: “To me, I felt like I was going to die if they didn’t laugh, and it’s not healthy, for sure.
“I would sometimes say a line and they wouldn’t laugh and I would sweat and go into like convulsions, if I didn’t get the laugh I was supposed to get.”
Looking surprised alongside Jennifer, Lisa Kudrow replied: “You didn’t tell us that. I don’t remember you ever saying that.”
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Matthew said: “Oh yeah, I felt like that every single night.”
The Reunion show also revealed how Matthew had originally been contracted to another sitcom when the Friends pilot was made, and so the creators were worried about whether they would be able to secure him as Chandler for the series.
However the other show – LAX 2194 – wasn’t picked up, leaving Matthew free to join the cast and achieve global fame.
Friends: The Reunion is available on HBO Max in the US and Sky and NOW in the UK from today.