Conan O’Brien admitted he was “jealous” of Matthew Perry when his then-girlfriend Lisa Kudrow raved about how funny her Friends co-star was after meeting him.
O’Brien, 61, and Kudrow, 60, dated from 1988 to 1993, so they were in a relationship when Lisa filmed the first season of Friends alongside Matthew, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc.
During an appearance on her ex’s podcast Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend, mother-of-one Kudrow revealed she had been watching a lot of Friends since Perry died in October 2023 and described her co-stars as “phenomenally funny.”
Recalling their early days on set, O’Brien told Kudrow, “You started doing that show and you called me and you were excited about…” as she finished her sentence and blurted out, “Matthew!”
O’Brien continued: ‘And you were like, “He’s so funny,” and there was a part of me that was… jealous. I was like, “Okay, I make you laugh so much,” and you were like, “No, no, you don’t understand, this guy is really funny!”
Conan O’Brien admitted he was “jealous” of Matthew Perry when his then-girlfriend Lisa Kudrow praised how funny her Friends co-star was after meeting him for the first time.
Lisa met Matthew when they began filming the television sitcom Friends in the early 90s.
“No, I wasn’t that bad,” Kudrow laughed as O’Brien replied, “No, you weren’t, but I’m just saying I think that’s human.”
Kudrow reassured her ex-boyfriend, saying, “Well, you’re the funniest person I know,” to which O’Brien replied, “No, no, that’s not it…” and the blonde actress continued, “One of the funniest people I know… well, it’s hard to hear now, you see, but it’s true, it’s a fact.”
Referring again to her late friend Perry, Kudrow said: “He was a great (talent). I thought about the character of Chandler, when I read it, I thought, ‘Oh, they have a gay character, that’s good,’ that was all I heard.
“So, during the script reading, I did a double take. ‘Oh my God,’ I could never in a million years have imagined someone playing the character like that and with his own timing and everything, it’s his,” he added, with O’Brien adding: “Impeccable timing.”
Speaking about Friends, in which she played the hilarious Phoebe Buffay, Kudrow explained: “I used to not be able to watch it at all. I mean, I’d watch it and be kind of interested, and then I’d look at myself and be like, ‘That’s enough, I can’t stand it. ‘”
‘And well, listen. After Matthew died, I was able to rewatch the show because it wasn’t about me, it was about him for some reason.
“And so I started watching Friends. It didn’t start like the first season, but there are marathons and sometimes, since he died, I spend the whole day watching the series.”
The actress also briefly touched on Perry’s personal struggles amid the rising popularity of Friends, saying, “Everyone was so excited and I think for some people, and he was definitely one of them, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be really good, it’s all going to work out now,’ and that’s not how it happens.”
Matthew as Chandler Bing and Lisa as Phoebe Buffay in an episode of the television series Friends
Conan on set with the cast of Friends, including his ex-girlfriend, Lisa, in 2001
Perry, who battled substance abuse for decades, sadly passed away at the age of 54 on October 28 last year after accidentally drowning in his hot tub in Los Angeles.
In December 2023, an autopsy confirmed that Perry died from the “acute effects of ketamine” and drowning; the actor had similar amounts of ketamine in his system as a hospital patient under general anesthesia.
The Los Angeles Police Department has since launched an investigation into the circumstances of Perry’s death.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is “confident” in its investigation and plans to charge “several individuals” with drug distribution resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
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