Friends forever. Matthew Perry and Courteney Cox’s chemistry as Chandler Bing and Monica Geller was so strong that many fans wondered if the actors had an offscreen romantic connection.
Despite falling in love and getting married on Friends, Perry and Cox’s real-world relationship has always been platonic. The Cougar Town actress was married to David Arquette from 1999 to 2013 and has been dating Johnny McDaid since late 2013. The 17 Again actor, for his part, never married, but has dated A-listers including Julia Roberts and Lizzy Caplan.
While promoting the 2021 Friends: The Reunion HBO Max special, Perry shed some light on why no one in the cast ever got together.
“There was a rule that we had, it was really important to the six of us, that we kept a friendship; that we were friends. And if we were hooking up or if there was any strangeness going on, that might mess with things,” he told Access in May 2021. “So, we kept a friendship, and we did become really good friends. And we are really good friends to this day.”
After the beloved sitcom ended in 2004, the Odd Couple alum and his TV wife stayed in each other’s lives. A decade after the season finale, Perry made a guest appearance on Cox’s show Cougar Town. “It was so great to work with him. He’s so sweet,” the Scream actress said of her costar during a January 2014 appearance on CONAN. The Alabama native then gushed about the Almost Heroes actor’s sense of humor. “When I worked with him on Friends, he literally gave me my personality for 10 years,” she said.
The pair reunited onscreen again for the Friends reunion in May 2021. During the special event, Cox said she thought Monica and Chandler would still be together in the present. “And you are making me laugh every day,” she told the Go On alum of his sarcastic character.
Perry struggled with drug and alcohol addiction throughout his time on the iconic television series and in the years after the finale. He got sober in early 2021, prior to filming the reunion, in which he admitted that he “felt like I was going to die if [the Friends audience] didn’t laugh.” Cox commented on her former costar’s state of mind during the show in a February 2022 interview with The Times of London.
“That was a lot of pressure he put on himself. That’s a lot to think how much he relied on that for his own self-worth,” she said. “He’s just struggled for a while. I think he’s doing great now.”
Scroll through for a look at Perry and Cox’s friendship over the years:
The pair met as costars on Friends, which premiered in September 1994. Crollalanza/Shutterstock
Cox and Perry tied the knot as Monica and Chandler during the May 2001 season 7 finale of Friends. In his November 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, the Serving Sara actor revealed that he wasn’t in a good place while filming the episode. “I married Monica and got driven back to the treatment center — at the height of my highest point in Friends, the highest point in my career, the iconic moment on the iconic show — in a pickup truck helmed by a sober technician,” he wrote. Youtube
In February 2013, the Just Before I Go actress guest starred on Perry’s NBC series Go On. “She is fantastic, obviously. And my desire to show off in front of her is back in full swing,” the Massachusetts native wrote via Twitter at the time. Cox, for her part, tweeted a picture of her and her pal on set. Courtesy of Matthew Perry/Twitter
The Whole Nine Yards actor returned the favor and appeared on Cox’s comedy in January 2014. Youtube
During an April 2015 conversation with Buzzfeed, Perry said that he and the rest of the Friends cast make an effort to stay in touch. “We try to get together when we can. Courteney is a great host, and she has a nice place in Malibu, and we try to go out there as often as possible. But the six of us haven't been in a room together for a number of years,” he said at the time. Cox also spoke to the outlet for the article, praising her longtime friend’s work in Go On. "I loved that Matthew found a way to make his character relatable by showing vulnerability in the personal struggles he was facing," she said, adding that his “ability to show very raw emotion” is the reason that “everyone loves him so much.” RSMX/starmaxinc.com/Shutterstock ; Freddie Baez/startraksphoto.com
The Mothers and Daughters actress shared a selfie of her and Perry via Instagram in November 2019. “Guess who I had lunch with today ... I KNOW!! Could I BE any happier?” she captioned the post, referencing both of their Friends catchphrases. Courtesy of Courteney Cox/Instagram
Cox wished the Fools Rush In actor a happy birthday via her Instagram Story in August 2021. “Happy birthday to one of the funniest people I KNOW,” she wrote alongside a selfie with her former costar. Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
The 9 Months With Courteney Cox filmmaker opened up about the pressure Perry put on himself while portraying Chandler Bing. “He’s just struggled for a while. I think he’s doing great now,” she told The Times of London in February 2022. BEI/Shutterstock
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