Matthew Perry Reveals Why He Never Watched 'Friends'

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Despite ending its run in 2004, Friends remains one of the biggest shows.

It lives on through streaming, syndication, and fans who dig out their DVDs.

Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the NBC comedy series, opened up in a new interview with CBC about why he didn't watch the show despite starring in it.

Matthew Perry attends the GQ Men of the Year Party 2022

Perry has been vocal about battling addiction while filming the series, and it turns out, the reason for not watching the show back is related.

“I was taking 55 Vicodin a day, I weighed 128 lbs, I was on Friends getting watched by 30 million people — and that’s why I can’t watch the show, ’cause I was brutally thin,” he said.

Matthew Perry attends the GQ Men of the Year Party 2022 at The West Hollywood

What's more, Perry said he could tell which substance he was struggling with based on the way he looked in any given episode.

“I didn’t watch the show, and haven’t watched the show, because I could go, ‘drinking, opiates, drinking, cocaine,” he recalled.

“I could tell season by season by how I looked. That’s why I don’t wanna watch it because that’s what I see.”

Perry is glad that the show remains popular because it has been introduced to a new generation of fans, and while hasn't watched it yet, he wants to.

Matthew Perry attends 32nd Annual Lucille Lortel Awards at NYU Skirball Center

“I think I’m gonna start to watch it, because it really has been an incredible thing to watch it touch the hearts of different generations,” he noted in the interview.

It’s become this important, significant thing. It was really funny and all the people were nice. I’ve been too worried about this, and I wanna watch Friends too.”

Perry's tell-all book Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, which released on November 1, found the star opening up about several aspects of his life that he had kept away from the public eye.

Matthew Perry attends "The Circle" Premiere at the BMCC Tribeca PAC

He opened up about how he "nearly" died after his colon burst, as well as relationships with celebrities.

Check out the full interview below.

Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.

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Friends Quotes

Ross: I get home, and I see Julie's saline solution on my night table. And I'm thinking to myself, "Oh my God, what the hell am I doing?" I mean, here I am, I am with Julie, this incredible, great woman, who I care about and who cares about me, and I'm like, what, am I just gonna throw all that away?
Joey: You got all that from saline solution?

Phoebe: (About Ross bringing luggage) How long did you think this barbecue was gonna last?
Ross: I'm going to China.
Phoebe: Jeez, you say one thing, and...
Monica: You're going to China?
Ross: (Not wanting to get into it) It's for the museum. Someone found a bone. We want the bone. They don't want us to have the bone. I'm going to try to persuade them to give us the bone. It's a whole big bone thing.