The recent death of Matthew Perry (54) has shocked fans of Friends, one of the most followed American sitcoms in history. The series ran for ten years (from 1994 to 2004), and the group of six friends who met at Central Perk is already an icon of the television industry. After learning of the death of the actor who played Chandler Bing, his colleagues, friends and fans from around the world have published expressions of affection and memories of the interpreter on social networks.
Lisa Cash, an actress who participated in the episode in question, wanted to recall an unprecedented experience with the actor: how Matthew Perry prevented his character from cheating on Monica (Courteney Cox) in the series Friends. Cash appeared in the episode The One in Las Vegas: Part 1 (1999), in which she was about to be part of a love triangle that was ultimately never aired. The actor did not want Chandler's course in the sitcom to change forever, since he knew he was one of the couples most loved by the public.
In an interview with TMZ, Cash explains that “the scene consisted of Chandler and Monica arguing in Las Vegas because Monica had lunch with Richard,” who was her ex-partner on the series. “Initially in our script, Chandler goes up to the hotel room, orders room service, and I bring it to him as a hotel worker.” “We end up talking and laughing and connecting and Chandler ends up cheating on Monica with my character.”
However, Matthew Perry asked the writers to change the plot a day before filming, despite having rehearsed the scene with Lisa Cash. The actor considered that the fans “would never forgive him.” “And he was probably right. “That would have possibly changed the course of the series and her character,” the actress adds to TMZ.
The writers accepted Perry's request and the script was changed overnight. Despite having canceled the original plot, Lisa Cash's character had an appearance in the episode: she played a stewardess on Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) and Ross Geller's (David Schwimmer) flight. Even so, the creators of Friends, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, have not yet confirmed this information.
The actress also wanted to share the good experience she had with Perry on the recording set. Despite it being one of her first jobs, Cash says that the star of the series made her feel very comfortable. As she confessed to TMZ, “he was very friendly and welcoming and made me feel at ease.” She continues, “It was so fun and easy to do the scene with him.”
Matthew Perry was the perfect actor to play Chandler Bing. The creators of the series Marta Kauffman and David Crane, and executive producer Kevin Bright, highlighted their role in the sitcom in the official statement they made after learning of the actor's death. "He was a brilliant talent. It's a cliché to say that an actor takes over a role, but in Matthew's case, there are no truer words. From the day we first heard him embody the role of Chandler Bing, we haven't “There was no one else for us.”
The cast wanted to highlight Perry's personality and charisma: “We will always appreciate the joy, the light, the dazzling intelligence that he brought to every moment, not only in his work, but also in life. She was always the funniest person in the room. More than that, he was the sweetest, with a generous and selfless heart.”
The actor was buried Friday at Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, less than a mile from the Warner Brothers studio where the series was filmed. Family members and co-stars (Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer) of the hit 90s comedy attended the funeral.
