Highlights
- Matthew Perry knew from the start that Friends would be a hit, and he badly wanted the part of Chandler.
- Initially, another actor was offered the role of Chandler but turned it down, which led to tension and the loss of a friendship between Matthew Perry and that actor.
- Fame wasn't all it was cracked up to be for Matthew Perry, as he faced personal challenges and lost a friendship over his success on Friends.
Ever since the first episode of Friends aired, viewers were hooked. For the actors behind the show, it started even earlier: everyone who read the script was sure the show would be a hit. The only problem was finding the perfect actors to fit the bill.
Matthew Perry was one actor who had an inkling the show would take off, and he badly wanted the part of Chandler. Eventually, he won the part, and later wrote a lucrative memoir that detailed the ups and downs of his career as a result. One detail he let slip was that his experience wasn't what he expected, and he even lost a friend over behind-the-scenes drama.
Perry Almost Missed His Chance To Be Cast As Chandler On 'Friends'
In the early casting days of Friends, Matthew Perry was at the top of the list to become Chandler. At the time, however, he was busy with the pilot of another project.
The Friends casting crew auditioned various other actors for Chandler Bing, but none delivered the lines as well as they imagined Matthew Perry would. Even a friend of Matthew Perry's, who had also trained with him, came anywhere close.
Later, after that would-be Chandler turned down the script, Matthew Perry became available. Eventually, NBC's president said how grateful he was not to have cast the other actor. In a less-than-flattering description of Craig Bierko's audition, he even criticized the actor's style.
As everyone knows, Matthew Perry eventually became available to work on Friends, and it seems as if his audition went off without a hitch. Though the casting folks for Friends already knew they wanted him, from Perry's perspective, things were hardly set in stone.
In his memoir, Perry described praying for fame before his audition—but he included in his prayer the tidbit that he didn't care what else happened to him. Perry felt that the prayer came to fruition through his addiction issues, but he did get what he asked for.
In fact, Perry said it was as if the role of Chandler had been written for him, was him. He wrote in his memoir, "When I read the script for [Friends] it was as if someone had followed me around for a year, stealing my jokes, copying my mannerisms, photocopying my world-weary yet witty view of life."
Perry also wanted to audition but was told by his team that he couldn't, because of the other project in progress. He continued to badger them until eventually, after practicing the Friends script—sometimes with friends who were auditioning—he was able to audition, and totally nailed it.
Yet it wasn't all positive for Perry when he nabbed the role; he lost a friendship over it.
Matthew Lost A Close Friend Due To 'Friends' Fame
Matthew Perry was so into the script for Friends, at the time titled Friends Like Us, that he memorized all of Chandler's parts, helped friends with their auditions, and swore he knew exactly how to portray Chandler Bing.
It turned out he was right, but the road to getting there wasn't so simple. While he was helping out his friends and still hoping for a chance to audition, Matthew Perry supported his good friend Craig Bierko's desire to pursue the role of Chandler, too.
While Friends' execs said that Bierko turned down the script, it seems he was actually offered the role. Despite Perry agreeing that he should go for it, Bierko said no, and joined the cast of another lesser-known show that was beginning around the same time.
Finally, Perry became the last cast member of Friends, joining after everyone else had already been cast. Thankfully he was perfect for the role, and things started looking up for him as Friends picked up steam.
On the personal side, though, Matthew wasn't so thrilled about how fame was impacting his life. Right after taking the role, he lost his friendship with Craig Bierko. In an interview where he discussed his memoir, Perry explained that Craig didn't speak to him for two years after he took the role of Chandler.
Obviously, it was Craig's choice to say no to the project, and he had his pal's full support if he decided to go for it. After he backed out, Bierko apparently held a grudge against his friend. When the two finally chatted again two years into Friends, Matthew said he told Craig that fame wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
Still, Bierko was jealous, later apologizing because he "could not handle" that his friend got rich and famous, at what he felt was his expense. Matthew told him that money and fame didn't solve his problems, but, he said, Craig didn't believe him.
At the time, both of them were 24, with over a dozen episodes on a show together (Sydney), but Craig hadn't had the big break that Matthew was getting. Eventually, Craig found his own success, but never became a household name like his former friend.
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