Lisa Kudrow remembers Matthew Perry’s wisdom, the shock of his passing, and re-watching FRIENDS to honour his legacy and the cast’s bond. Hollywood actor Lisa Kudrow recently opened up about the loss of her Friends co-star Matthew Perry, sharing heartfelt memories and how his passing has impacted her. Speaking on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s On Me podcast, Kudrow revealed a poignant conversation she had with Perry before his death in October 2023, when he passed away from an accidental drug overdose.
“He said, ‘It won’t be a surprise, but it will be a shock,’ and that was exactly right,” Kudrow recalled. “It wasn’t a surprise, but it was a big jolt. It shook us up, I have to say. He was so smart—how did he know?” Despite the heartbreak, she found solace in believing that Perry passed away content. “I think, personally, he died happy. In the days around his passing, he was happy and excited about what was happening next.”
To cope with the grief, Kudrow turned to the memories of their days working on Friends by rewatching the show. “After Matthew passed away, there were marathons, and I wanted to watch. It felt like part of the remembering, grieving, and celebrating,” she shared. Watching her co-stars in action also brought newfound appreciation. “Schwimmer’s hilarious. Matt LeBlanc is making me laugh out loud. Jennifer—oh, come on! She’s so good. And Courteney—my god, you’re hilarious. How did you never get nominated for an Emmy? And Matthew, of course. Genius. At the time, he was blowing me away.”
Kudrow admitted there are still episodes of the beloved sitcom that she’s never seen. “I’m still deciding how to work my way through them,” she said. “I was there for the table reads, but I didn’t always see the rewrites or the final versions. I was balancing marriage, a child, and movies. Sometimes, I’d just come back for pickups for my scenes.”
Shifting to brighter memories, Kudrow reflected on the cast’s 25th reunion in 2019, which was the first time all six stars—Lisa, Matthew, Jennifer, Courteney, Matt, and David—had come together in a decade. “It was so good,” she said of the gathering. “We’d only had dinner just the six of us once before since the show ended. And even then, it was ten years after the finale! But it was fantastic. It felt like we didn’t miss a beat—just us at someone’s house having dinner.”
Now, as Kudrow continues to celebrate Friends and the friendships it fostered, she finds comfort in the enduring legacy of the show and the cherished memories of her time with Perry and the rest of the cast. “It’s part of remembering, grieving, and also enjoying what we created together,” she said.
