“God, you can do whatever you want with me”: Matthew Perry’s request weeks before he landed the role that made him famous as Chandler Bing in “Friends”

It was 1994 and Matthew Perry was not in a good place at work. Just before the opportunity to be a part of “Friends” arose, the actor, then 24 years old, participated in a pilot project called “LAX 2194” and was awaiting approval from television executives.

At the same time, his representative informed him that he had no money and that he had to find any kind of work, as the actor admitted in a 2015 interview on “Late Night With Seth Meyers”, which CNN recalled today, two days after his unexpected death that took place on Saturday, October 28 at Perry’s residence in Los Angeles.

How Matthew Perry got the role of Chandler in the series Friends

Matthew Perry not only recalled the story of his beginnings in Friends in 2015, but also recorded it in his autobiography “Friends, Lovers and the Big Scary Thing”, which was published in November 2022.

It was on these pages that he recalled the request he made on his knees weeks before he got the part Chandler Bing. It was an episode in his life that happened while he was reading an article about the actor Charlie Sheen in a newspaper while he was in his small apartment in Los Angeles.

“I was saying Sheen was in trouble again for something, but I remember thinking, ‘What does he care? He is famous’. Out of nowhere I found myself on my knees, closed my eyes and prayed. “I’ve never done that before,” he admitted about this divine inspiration.

“God, you can do whatever you want with me. I’m just asking you to celebrate. “Three weeks later, they gave me a role in ‘Friends,'” he said in his memoirs.

By coincidence, he received the script for the series, which at the time was called “Friends like us”, according to the review cnn in his publication.

“There was a role that was perfect for me and it was driving me crazy that I couldn’t play it because of the porter (program). “I freaked out,” he said, referring to the pilot of “LAX 2194,” a comedy about baggage handlers at a Los Angeles airport in the year 2194 that ended up not being approved by executives.

Had it been the other way around, he might not have achieved the fame he did with the role of Chandler.

After being relieved of that responsibility, he was able to attend an audition and managed to stay with the character on the NBC series that kept six friends together for ten years.

“God certainly kept his part of the deal, but the Almighty, being Almighty, didn’t forget the first part of that prayer,” Matthew Perry wrote about that request, which, in addition to fame, also included problems of anxiety, insecurity, and some addictions. with whom he fought for some time.

(AND)