In a recent chat that was more entertaining than a monkey juggling bananas, George Clooney spilled the beans on Matthew Perry’s epic quest for sitcom happiness during his Friends era.
George, the eternal fountain of wisdom at 62, took a stroll down memory lane, reminiscing about his bromance with the late Friends icon. Turns out, Matthew, the lovable Chandler Bing of the ’90s, had a dream as big as a skyscraper covered in glitter β to be the star of a sitcom. Little did he know that he’d hit the jackpot with Friends in 1994.
But alas, life is a rollercoaster, and Matthew’s ride had more twists and turns than a pretzel. Thanks to a tumultuous relationship with drug and alcohol, the poor guy found it trickier than a Rubik’s Cube to slap on a happy face during the show.
βHe was like a kid in a candy store, or more accurately, a sitcom store,” George chuckled as he spilled the beans to Deadline. “All he’d say was, βI just want to get on a sitcom, man. I just want to get on a regular sitcom, and I would be the happiest man on earth.ββ
Well, guess what? He got his wish and then some. Chandler Bing, the king of sarcastic one-liners, landed right on Matthew’s lap, but happiness remained as elusive as Bigfoot in a game of hide and seek.
βHe got on probably one of the best ever. He wasnβt happy,β George revealed, shaking his head in disbelief. βIt didnβt bring him joy or happiness or peace.β
George, who once roamed the ER halls in the ’90s, sharing the same studio space with Matthew, admitted he had a front-row seat to the drama. βWe just knew that he wasnβt happy, and I had no idea he was doing what, 12 Vicodin a day and all the stuff he talked about, all that heartbreaking stuff.β
In a plot twist that rivals a Shakespearean tragedy, George dropped a wisdom bomb: βAnd it also just tells you that success and money and all those things, it doesnβt just automatically bring you happiness. You have to be happy with yourself and your life.β
In a tangent of hilarity, George reminisced about meeting Matthew when the guy was just a 16-year-old padawan. βWe used to play paddle tennis together. Heβs about 10 years younger than me. He was a great, funny, funny, funny kid.β
Cut to the present, where the cosmic sitcom stage has dimmed its lights for Matthew Perry. Found in his jacuzzi on October 28, the man who made us laugh with his witty banter exited the stage at 54. The medical examiners, in a reveal more shocking than a soap opera plot twist, spilled the ketamine tea, declaring Matthew’s demise was from the “acute effects of ketamine.”
The sitcom dream that turned into a rollercoaster of emotions, complete with laughter, tears, and a dash of ketamine. Life, truly stranger than fiction.
