Anna Faris wishes she got to know Matthew Perry better when she guest-starred on Friends… and says he suggested her for the role
Anna Faris wished she had gotten to know Matthew Perry better when she guest-starred on the final season of Friends in 2004.
Matthew was found dead in his hot tub in October 2023, at the age of 54. He had overdosed on ketamine after years of addiction problems.
In Friends, Anna played a pregnant woman named Erica, whose baby is adopted by Matthew’s character Chandler and his wife Monica, played by Courteney Cox.
Anna has now enthusiastically expressed how happy she was to work with him, but she also admits that she regrets having only had ‘brief interactions’ with him.
“It was an honor, and he was just an incredible person,” the 47-year-old House Bunny actress said in a new interview with People.
Anna Faris wishes she had had the chance to get to know Matthew Perry better when she guest-starred on the final season of Friends in 2004
“I wish I knew him better. It feels a little cheeky to talk too much about someone I feel like I only had a brief connection with, but they were amazing and I feel honored to be a part of the show.”
Matthew suggested Anna for the role of Erica after seeing her in Sofia Coppola’s 2003 film Lost In Translation, starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson.
“That was my understanding at the time,” Anna said. “He told me he saw me in Lost in Translation and he thought I was good.”
Anna played a dimwitted movie star in Lost In Translation who was rumored to be based on Cameron Diaz, although Sofia denies this suspicion.
Erica, Anna’s character on Friends, is a similarly dim-witted woman who isn’t sure which of her two exes is the father of her baby – despite the fact that she’s only had vaginal sex with one of them.
Looking back on her time on the show, Anna recalled, “I worked with Courteney and Matthew especially, and they were incredible to me. They were so kind.”
She admitted she was nervous about the job, sharing, “I mean, it was such an intimidating idea. I mean, giving birth on Friends. Friends? The final season?”
Matthew and Courteney starred on Friends for 10 seasons, alongside Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc.
Matthew was found dead in his hot tub in October 2023 at the age of just 54, after overdosing on ketamine following years of addiction struggles; photo 2016
Now Anna has enthusiastically shared how happy she was to work with him, while admitting she regrets having only had ‘brief interactions’ with him; pictured this week
In Friends, Anna played a pregnant woman named Erica, whose baby is adopted by Matthew’s character Chandler and his wife Monica, played by Courteney Cox
Erica is a sweet, plump woman who isn’t sure which of her last two exes is the father of her baby – despite the fact that she’s only had vaginal sex with one of them
Matthew apparently suggested Anna for the role of Erica after seeing her in Sofia Coppola’s 2003 film Lost In Translation (pictured), starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson
Anna explained that when she was filming the final season, the cast “got pretty emotional because they were wrapping things up. It was really sentimental.”
Anna candidly shared, “At the same time I was like, ‘Okay, I should probably go back to my dressing room during this group hug,'”
Despite her positive experiences on set, Anna admitted that her royalty payments were lower than she had hoped.
“They don’t rerun the previous season that often, because I think every, you know, four months I get a nine-cent check!” she joked.