Paul Rudd has been reflecting on his memories of Matthew Perry.
Friends star Matthew was found dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home in October 2023, at the age of 54. The late actor’s postmortem report concluded that his death was led by the acute effects of ketamine.
Paul Rudd previously worked with Matthew in the final seasons of Friends, when he was cast as Lisa Kudrow’s on-screen partner, Mike Hannigan.
Now, as the second anniversary of Matthew’s death approaches, Paul has been opening up about some of his fondest memories of the beloved star.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the 55-year-old recalled that Matthew made an effort to make him feel comfortable as a late addition to the Friends cast.
Paul shared that, during one of his first days on set in 2002, Matthew noticed him walking past his dressing room, and invited him in to play video games with him.
“I’m not really a gamer. I don’t know if he was either. But I remember thinking, this guy doesn’t really know me at all, and he’s like, ‘Come on in,’ and we’re just playing video games,” the Clueless actor praised.
“When I think of him, I remember that,” Paul added.
Elsewhere in the interview, Friends co-creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman revealed their opinions on Mike Hannigan’s role in the two-part finale. In recent years, Paul has stated that he felt out of place with his brief appearance alongside the six main cast, during the 2004 finale.
Reflecting on the matter, Crane argued: “I know he has said that he felt a little like, ‘Why am I here? It should be just the six of them,’ but I think it was our need to legitimise that Mike really is Phoebe’s future. If you didn’t see him in the episode, it would feel a little bit like TV bulls***.”
Kauffman agreed: “That episode was so much about moving on and having a life that may not bring you back here. He was part of that for Phoebe. He was the guy who was going to make her happy for the rest of her life.”
