Lisa Kudrow recalls her first impression of Matthew Perry at the Friends table read

In the time since Matthew Perry's tragic passing, his former Friends co-stars have come out to pay tribute to the late actor, sharing love and looking back at their incredible times together. For actress Lisa Kudrow, who starred as Phoebe Buffay in all 10 seasons of the NBC sitcom, she revealed she's begun watching Friends because of Perry. It can't be easy mourning such a source of light, especially one you had such a formative experience with, but the cast of Friends have leaned on each other and their positive memories to help get them through it.

In a recent episode of Conan O'Brien's podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend, Kudrow stopped by to promote her new Apple TV+ show Time Bandits. Along the way, of course, the subject of Friends came up, and the two recalled memories they had of when Kudrow first signed on to the show. In a hilarious bit, O'Brien admitted he was jealous of Perry, who Kudrow gushed about as being "so funny." Once O'Brien saw the show, he realized just how true that statement was.

In the podcast episode, which you can see a clip of below, Kudrow and O'Brien laughed about his jealousy before recalling other memories they have of the late actor, including when Kudrow initially believed Perry's character Chandler was supposed to be gay.

"I thought that Chandler character, when I read [the script], I went, ‘Oh, they have a gay character, that’s good.’ I thought — that’s all I heard. At the table read, I just did a double take at him, ‘Oh, my god,” I never even in a million years could’ve envisioned anyone playing the character like that with his own rhythm and everything."

- Lisa Kudrow

This is not the first time Kudrow recalled thinking Chandler was meant to be gay, having shared the same memory in a 2014 interview. Perry must've made a very strong first impression on Kudrow if she was so shocked to meet him for the first time at the table read, making it a memory she'll always remember. It's no wonder that after all these years, she's finally ready to marathon Friends like the fans do.

"After Matthew died, I could start watching the show again because it wasn’t about me. It had to do with him for some reason."

- Lisa Kudrow

Kudrow revealed to O'Brien in the podcast episode that she's watched Friends "all day" when it's on TV, something we can definitely relate to. The actress also recalled a memory of shooting the fountain scene, remembering how uncomfortable the experience was getting wet, cold, and having to dance repeatedly. But despite that frustrating experience, Perry made her smile with his hilarious jokes that got the cast through it. When you see the cast laughing in the opening titles, it's because of Perry. There's no doubt his own sarcastic humor influenced the character of Chandler.

Perry sadly passed away on Oct. 28, 2023 at his home in Los Angeles, California. He has been greatly missed by Friends fans and the entertainment industry as a whole.