EXCLUSIVE – Friends cast are ‘in talks’ to reunite for tribute to Matthew Perry on-stage at this year’s Emmy Awards: Actors want to share ‘personal memories’ of their late co-star and honor him as he ‘rightfully deserves’
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Le Blanc and David Schwimmer are said to be in early talks to honor their late Friends co-star Matthew Perry at the upcoming Emmy Awards in January.
The actors are reportedly eager to share their “personal memories” of Perry, who played the savvy Chandler Bing in the groundbreaking ’90s sitcom, and give him the tribute he “rightly deserves.”
The beloved actor was found dead in his hot tub on October 28 at the age of 54. His cause of death has been postponed pending the results of a toxicology report.
“When it comes to Matthew’s death, emotions are still running high and it is still a very sensitive situation, which is completely understandable,” a source told DailyMail.com exclusively.
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer reportedly in talks to honor Matthew Perry at the upcoming Emmy Awards in January
Perry was found dead in his hot tub on October 28 by his assistant, who had briefly left his home to run errands. He was 54
“But Jen, Lisa and the rest of the cast want to at some point publicly honor him and give him the tribute he so rightly deserves — and there have been rumors of doing this at next year’s Emmys.”
While Perry will likely be featured in the In Memorium segment, the insider claimed that Lisa, 60, Courteney, 59, David, 57, Matt, 56, and Jennifer, 54, would also like to share their memories on stage.
“They would all love to get on stage together to talk about him and also have their own unique moment to share memories of him and tell the world about the man he was in real life,” they continued.
“If they can all agree on a worthy tribute and get the blessing of his family, they will absolutely come together to make that evening a special moment for Matthew and all who loved him.”
The 75th Emmys will take place on January 15 at the Peackcock Theater in Los Angeles – three months after the original date was scrapped due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
Perry was nominated for five Emmy awards during his lifetime, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2002 for his role in Friends.
He was also nominated twice for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance on The West Wing in 2003 and 2004.
Reports of a public tribute come days after the cast shared their individual memories of Perry in a series of spaced posts on social media.
The Friends cast wants to make the star-studded Emmys night a ‘special moment’ for the late actor ‘and everyone who loved him’
LeBlanc paid tribute to Perry on Instagram earlier this week. He wrote: ‘Matthew. It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye. The times we had together are honestly some of the favorite times of my life.”
Aniston also paid tribute to her late Friends costar with a message that included a text message he sent her before his death
Perry once texted Aniston saying, “Making you laugh made my day.”
Le Blanc posted a throwback photo of him and Perry on the set of Friends and wrote, “Matthew. It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye. The times we had together are honestly some of the favorite times of my life.
“It was an honor to share the stage with you and call you my friend. I will always smile when I think of you and I will never forget you. Never.’
He ended with: ‘Spread your wings and fly, brother, you are finally free. Lots of love.’
Aniston shared a screenshot of a sweet message she received from Perry, in which he told her he enjoyed making her laugh.
“Oh boy, this one cut deep…” she began on Instagram.
‘Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I have never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love.’
She said the cast was a “chosen family” who “loved him deeply,” before stating that Perry was part of their “DNA.”
Aniston also recalled Perry’s need to make everyone around him laugh.
“For Matty, he KNEW he loved making people laugh. As he himself said, if he didn’t hear the ‘laughter’, he thought he would die. His life literally depended on it,” she wrote. “And boy, did he manage to do just that. He made us all laugh. And laugh out loud.’
Schwimmer paid a touching tribute to Perry around the same time as Aniston with a still from Friends of him and Perry dressed as Miami Vice characters
Cox played Chandler’s true love Monica Geller in the show, reflecting on the beginning of their on-screen romance with a clip of the two in bed in London
Among Aniston’s post was a short personal message that Perry had sent her via text in the past, although she did not reveal when the exchange took place.
“Over the past few weeks I’ve been transferring our text messages to each other. Laughing and crying and then laughing again,” she admitted. ‘I’ll keep them forever.
“I found a text he sent me out of the blue one day. It says it all. (See the second slide…).”
Cox, who played Chandler’s true love Monica Geller, reflected on the beginning of their on-screen romance by sharing a clip of them in bed in London – when their first tryst was revealed – and a sweet performance.
She wrote: “I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day.
“When you work with someone as closely as I do with Matthew, there are thousands of moments I would love to share. So far this is one of my favorites.’
Schwimmer thanked Perry for “ten incredible years of laughter and creativity” and shared a photo of the star in a white suit.
He wrote: ‘I imagine you are out there somewhere, in the same white suit, with your hands in your pockets, looking around – ‘Could there be more clouds?’
Kudrow – the fifth and final cast member to pay tribute – thanked Perry for the many ways he touched her life.
“Thank you for making me laugh so hard at something you said that my muscles ached and tears streamed down my face EVERY DAY,” she wrote alongside a photo of the couple.