The FRIENDS fans were surprised when they learned that both David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston crushed hard on each other during the show. Almost everybody was excited to know more about the on-screen couple’s backstage stories. Interestingly, the Ross star was not the only one who felt something for Aniston, the late Matthew Perry also had a crush on the Rachel Green fame.
Matthew Perry’s Chandler Bing is often crowned as one of the wittiest television characters ever. His one-liners and sarcastic comments made for some of the best moments in the show. According to the late FRIENDS star, he had a massive crush on Jennifer Aniston for a long time, even before they joined the show.
What did Matthew Perry say about his unrequited love story with Jennifer Aniston?
The FRIENDS fans were shattered when we lost our funniest friend in October 2023 at the age of 54. Nevertheless, the late Matthew Perry had left several stories to highlight his journey in the fan-favorite sitcom. In his 2022 memoir titled Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, the late actor admitted that he approached Jennifer Aniston three years before the show started.
In the show, the fans loved the sweet bond shared between Chandler Bing and Rachel Green. The late Perry expected that the feelings would be mutual and asked out the actress. He first called her to share the excitement of booking two gigs in a day. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a bad idea as Perry wrote- “Looking back, it was clear that this made her think I liked her too much, or in the wrong kind of way… and I only compounded the error by then asking her out. She declined”
Though Jennifer Aniston wanted to stay friends with him, Matthew Perry admitted that the crush persisted even when they reunited on the NBC sitcom’s set. On appearing at SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show, the late Serving Sara actor admitted that initially, it was a bit tough to work alongside Aniston, but ultimately he let her go.
At first it was like, she would walk in, I’d be like, ‘Hey, good to see you.’ And I’d go to my dressing room and just go, ‘Oh, I’ll never, I’ll never be able to be with her,'” he said. “But how can you not have a crush on Jennifer Aniston, you know? But I did at one point just go, ‘All right, that’s enough.’
On the other hand, David Schwimmer also suggested (see Entertainment Tonight) that he and Aniston mutually decided to respect the boundaries and let things go. Adding more to the Jennifer Aniston-David Schwimmer drama, Matthew Perry also added that he knew about them even before it was disclosed to the audience in the reunion special.
Jennifer Aniston was one of the kindest friends to Matthew Perry as well
Besides the interview, the late Matthew Perry also wrote in his memoir about the time on the set of FRIENDS when he was badly crushing over Jennifer Aniston. According to him, initially, the encounters were very awkward, and he also found himself staring at his co-star- “And then I’d ask myself, ‘How long can I look at her? Is three seconds too long?’” (via New York Post).
Nonetheless, it looks like none of these mattered much to Aniston as he saw Perry as one of her best friends. It is evident from the instance when the Rachel Green actress broke down to tears talking about the late actor’s battle with addiction to ABC News’s Diane Sawyer.
He struggled. We didn’t know. We weren’t equipped to deal with it. Nobody had ever dealt with that. And the idea of even losing him … he’s having a road. But he’s all right.
Later, the late Emmy-nominated actor also confessed that Jennifer Aniston was the one who reached out the most to him during his tough time with drug and alcohol addiction. It is notable that although he could not hear a “Yes” from Brad Pitt’s ex, Perry dated some of the most notable stars including Julia Roberts, Yasmine Bleeth, Neeve Campbell, and Lizzy Caplan.
FRIENDS can be streamed on Max.
