Courteney Cox said that her late Friends costar Matthew Perry still “visits” her frequently.
“You know, he’s just so funny. He has genuinely a huge heart, obviously struggled,” Cox, 59, said in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning on Sunday, May 19, while discussing the 20th anniversary of the Friends finale. “I’m so thankful I got to work so closely with him for so many years. He visits me a lot, if we believe in that.” Perry played Chandler Bing alongside Cox’s Monica Geller in every episode of the show’s 10-year run.
When pressed by the interviewer on her spirituality, the actress elaborated on her feeling that late family and friends reappear to guide her through life.
“You know, I talk to my mom, my dad, Matthew — I feel like there are a lotta people that, I think, guide us,” said Cox. “I do sense, yeah, I sense Matthew’s around for sure.”
Along with Cox and Perry, Friends’ ensemble cast included Jennifer Aniston as Rachel, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani and David Schwimmer as Ross. When news broke that Perry had died in October 2023, the cast released a joint statement expressing their grief.
“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” the cast wrote in a statement to Us Weekly at the time. “In time we will say more, as and when we are able… For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”
Two weeks later, Cox shared a clip from the series via Instagram along with a personal story about her time with Perry.
“I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day. 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,” she wrote over a scene that showed the beginning of Monica’s relationship with Chandler. “In this scene, before we started rolling, he whispered a funny line for me to say. He often did things like that. He was funny and he was kind.”
The Friends series finale aired on May 6, 2004, with an episode titled “The Last One.” Last month, an insider exclusively told Us how the cast planned to celebrate the finale’s 20th anniversary while honoring their late friend and former costar.
“The prospect of having a reunion or a formal get-together without Matthew is bittersweet. There will be a huge void,” the source said in the April issue of Us. “[But] they know Matthew would’ve wanted them to carry on and celebrate the show. So that’s very much on their minds as they move forward.”
