Remember that episode during the first season of “90210” where Brandon interviewed the school tennis star for the newspaper, and then proceeded to talk him out of suicide? That was Matthew Perry. Remember Carol’s boyfriend who died in a drunk driving accident on “Growing Pains?” Again Matthew Perry. And, wait, don’t you remember that guy who lived with Sam for an episode of “Who’s The Boss?” I bet you can guess who that actor was. During the 80’s there wasn’t a sitcom in production that didn’t feature Matthew in at least one episode. However, it wasn’t until he got the part of Chandler Bing in the hugely popular sitcom “Friends” that he became a household name.
Born in small-town Massachusetts, Matthew’s parents divorced when he was still a young child, and he moved to Ottawa with his mother. His father was an actor, and his mother became the press secretary for the prime minister of Canada. As a child and teenager, Matthew planned on becoming a tennis star. At one point, he was the third ranked junior doubles player in Canada. When he was fifteen, he moved to L.A. to live with his father and play tennis. When that didn’t work out, he decided to pursue his other passion: acting.
When he was in high school, he was cutting class one day and literally got discovered by a casting director, who saw him try to impress some friends by being funny. He was cast in the film “A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon.” He subsequently landed lead roles in a few sitcoms, all of which failed. After that, he guest-starred on countless sitcoms, until he got tired of just being the guest star, and decided to try his hand at writing.
In 1993, around the same time as “Friends” was being developed, Perry and his writing partner developed a pilot called “Maxwell’s House.” It was about a group of twentysomethings who like to hang out in a coffeehouse, talk, laugh, and fall in love. Sound familiar? He sold it to Universal, who pitched it to NBC. The network rejected it, claiming they already had something similar in the works. That something was “Friends,” and even though they couldn’t use his writing, Matthew was immediately cast in the role of Chandler. Perry has said that Chandler is, “a slightly exaggerated form of me, a little more neurotic and pathetic…” and it was this role that really made him famous. Just like the rest of his co-stars, he enjoys playing his character on the popular show, mainly because he gets to work with “funny, talented people, in an open kind of forum…” He has also said that he likes that he is able to input his ideas into the show.
Another thing he shares with his “Friends” co-stars is the ability to make movies during the summers. Since “Friends” started, he has starred in a handful of movies, including “Fools Rush In,” with Salma Hayek, and “The Whole Nine Yards” with Bruce Willis. While filming “Yards,” Willis and Perry became such good friends that Willis guest-starred in a few episodes of “Friends,” and Perry had a cameo in Willis’s next movie, “The Kid.”
Since the beginning of “Friends,” Matthew has been through his share of ordeals. At one point, his addiction to painkillers forced him to check himself into rehab, and gave him a new perspective on life. At the time, he told TV Guide, “[I] had no idea what was happening to me…it’s strange to say, but it’s probably the thing I’m most proud of in my entire life. I know that given a really difficult situation, I … helped myself… Anything can come at me now and I feel like I can take it because I got myself through that.” Proving how close they are in real life, his “Friends” co-stars helped him through it. He now says he feels much healthier, and remains close to his co-stars. Courteney Cox Arquette told People in 1999, “He's got a great heart and a great sense of humor. It's the perfect combination.” He is also currently dating actress Rene Ashton, whom he first met at a hockey game.
