Courteney Cox Pays Tribute To Matthew Perry With A Touching Memory And A Hilarious Video
Friends and loved ones continue to mourn the untimely death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry, with those who knew him best paying tribute to the comedy star. Most recently, Courteney Cox took to Instagram to honor her co-star with a personal trip down memory lane, her first update since Perry's passing. She, along with the rest of the "Friends" cast, already provided a joint statement to the press. This post was from the heart and also featured a hilarious, charming outtake from an episode of "Friends" where Perry is shown feeding Cox a line for her character Monica to say after it's discovered she's been sleeping in Chandler's bed. The scene originally debuted during the "Friends" reunion special in 2021.
"I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day," Cox captioned the video. "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." Monica and Chandler have gone down as one of television's most beloved couples, and the chemistry the two shared on screen was palpable. Fans watched for years as Monica continually dated men who didn't deserve her, always walking the will-they, won't-they path to the inevitable — Chandler Bing. The series ended with the duo married and adopting twins.
'The beginning of their love story'
Chandler and Monica weren't originally supposed to end up together, but Cox's Instagram post indicates that the scene in question is what lit the spark toward their firework romance. "To give a little backstory, Chandler and Monica were supposed to have a one-night fling in London," she wrote. "But because of the audience's reaction, it became the beginning of their love story." Listening to the way the studio audience loses their collective marbles once Monica's head pops up from under the covers is a testament to Cox and Perry, who made audiences fall in love with their characters and in turn, in love with them as a couple. "In this scene, before we started rolling, he whispered a funny line for me to say," she added. "He often did things like that. He was funny and he was kind."
There are a lot of justified complaints to lobby against some of the humor in "Friends" that hasn't particularly aged well, but Chandler and Monica are one of the healthiest depictions of a relationship on screen. The duo started out as friends and established a solid foundation of trust and appreciation, later evolving into genuine, romantic love. Watching this behind-the-scenes clip is a clear showcase that the success of that relationship was not just in the writing but in the authentic performances by Perry and Cox.