Jennifer Aniston & David Schwimmer Pay Tribute to Matthew Perry: ‘We Were Always the 6 of Us’
Two more of the Friends cast have posted their own individual tributes to the late Matthew Perry, just over two weeks after he died at the age of 54.
“Oh boy this one has cut deep… Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep,” Jennifer Aniston wrote on Instagram.
“And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be,” she continued. “For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn’t hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard. In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all.”
She concluded her tribute with, “Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying ‘could you BE any crazier?’ Rest little brother. You always made my day…” The post, which you can see below, includes a photo of the two of them, a screenshot of a text exchange with Perry, and a clip from Friends of Chandler (Perry) and Rachel’s (Aniston) goodbye as the latter was planning to move to Paris.
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David Schwimmer also penned a tribute to “Matty” on Instagram. “Thank you for ten incredible years of laughter and creativity. I will never forget your impeccable comic timing and delivery. You could take a straight line of dialogue and bend it to your will, resulting in something so entirely original and unexpectedly funny it still astonishes. And you had heart. Which you were generous with, and shared with us, so we could create a family out of six strangers,” he wrote.
“This photo is from one of my favorite moments with you,” he noted of an image from a flashback scene of Ross and Chandler. “Now it makes me smile and grieve at the same time. I imagine you up there, somewhere, in the same white suit, hands in your pockets, looking around— ‘Could there BE any more clouds?'”
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Aniston and Schwimmer’s tributes come one day after Matt LeBlanc (Joey) and Courteney Cox (Monica) posted their own to social media.
“Matthew. It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye,” LeBlanc wrote. “The 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. I will always smile when I think of you and I’ll never forget you. Never. Spread your wings and fly brother you’re finally free. Much love. And I guess you’re keeping the 20 bucks you owe me.”
“I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day,” Cox wrote. “When you work with someone as closely as I did with Matthew, there are thousands of moments I wish I could share. For now here’s one of my favorites.” She also shared that their characters’ night in London wasn’t supposed to be more than just that until the audience’s reaction meant it kicked off their love story. She included a clip of a blooper from that London episode.
These tributes come after Aniston, Cox, LeBlanc, Schwimmer, and Lisa Kudrow released a joint statement in the days following his death. “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” they said. “There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss. In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”
Friends aired for 10 seasons on NBC, from 1994 to 2004, with the six actors the main cast for its entire run.
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