Highlights
- Matthew Perry was known for his humor and kindness, as stated by Friends co-creators and a guest star on the show.
- Paget Brewster credits Matthew Perry for helping her kickstart her career on Friends, where she appeared in six episodes.
- Brewster tried to stay on Friends longer and formed strong bonds with the female cast members, but her request to change her storyline was rejected.
Although he appeared in many more popular TV shows and movies throughout the years, the late Matthew Perry is better known for playing Chandler Bing in the popular sitcom Friends. Since he got his big break in this show, Perry built himself a reputation as one of Hollywood’s most wholesome and down-to-earth stars.
Following Perry’s tragic passing, many of his co-stars came forward to share what an incredible person the late actor was.
“He was always the funniest person in the room. More than that, he was the sweetest, with a giving and selfless heart,” Friends co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane shared in a public statement. Moreover, a guest star on Friends revealed that she was extremely grateful to Perry because the actor helped her kickstart her career back in the day.
The Late Mathew Perry Helped Paget Brewster Land A Guest Role On Friends
Before appearing on Criminal Minds, Paget Brewster had a recurring role in Friends. During the show’s fourth season, the actress played Kathy, Joey’s girlfriend, who later on ends up with Chandler. Although she only appeared on six episodes of Friends, Brewster made a huge impression on the fans and the cast of the show. “That was like my first big job,” the actress told Headline & Global News. “They cast me, I did six episodes and those guys were so nice because I was terrified.”
“I watched Friends, and so I got the audition and they called me back to have another audition,” Brewster revealed during an appearance in TheTalk.
“I saw four very beautiful and very famous actresses. And I thought I’m not gonna get this, so I wasn’t nervous. So the door opened, I went in the room and said ‘Clearly I’m your runty alternate so let’s just get this show on the road.’” She explained that Matthew Perry and Kevin Bright were in the room during her last audition, which, of course, made her even more nervous.
Ultimately, Brewster got the role, which later resulted in getting more roles in popular movies and TV series. However, she’s admitted that she owes her career to Matthew Perry because the actor got her that first gig on Friends. “I actually owe Matthew Perry my career,” she beams. “He was in the casting room when I got that and I guess he went to bat for me and said, ‘She’s the funniest one; you have to cast her.’”
Paget Brewster Enjoyed Her Time On Friends So Much She Didn’t Want It To End
When it was announced her character was going to be written out of the show, Paget Brewster wasn’t ready for her time on Friends to come to an end, and neither were her co-stars. In the Friends of Friends feature on the Season Ten DVD, the actress revealed that she had become such good friends with the female cast members that they asked the writers to change her storyline so that she could come back later on. However, their request was rejected.
However, this didn’t stop the actress from trying to stay on the show. “In episode six I knew my character was gone, and I climbed up the lighting equipment above for a multi-cam. There’s a studio audience, and it’s like a stadium. You can see the stages and there are lighting rigs above it to hold microphones to capture the audience laughing,” Paget recalled of her most memorable Friends experience in an interview for the Friends reunion.
“And I climbed up a ladder on the side. Very dumb and I could have hurt myself and a lot of people. I shimmied out onto the rafters to watch the scene where Chandler decides it’s over, and I’m a jerk.”
The actress continued, “When they did the scene the first pass, the audience was like ‘Ohh’ and they were all bummed out that Kathy was gonna be gone. I was up in the rafters and I was like, oh maybe they won’t write me out. All the writers huddled together with the cast, and they rewrote the thing. They went out and shot it again and it was like ‘Oh Kathy, no, you blew it. I knew my run was over”
After Friends, Paget Brewster Joined the Cast Of One Of CBS’ Most Popular TV Series
Although her run in Friends was incredibly short, Paget Brewster’s role in this popular sitcom helped kickstart her career. Following Friends, the actress went on to appear on CBS’ hit show Criminal Minds as FBI Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss. Brewster was fired from the show after its sixth season but was rehired a season later due to fans’ complaints. However, in 2012 Brewster announced she was stepping down from Criminal Minds to pursue other roles in comedy.
“I was on ‘Criminal Minds‘ for six years so I think I got pretty good at the FBI oppose and the eyebrow lift, it’s a very specific kind of acting,” the actress told Headline and Global News. “Comedy is a little scarier because you want to land the humor and honor what the writers did as they work so hard to craft jokes, so there’s a different pressure.” Despite this decision, the actress assured she’s still on good terms with her former Criminal Minds co-stars.
Source: NewsFinale
