Lisa Kudrow Makes Rare Post-Death Confession About Matthew Perry as She Remembers Beloved 'Friends' Costar's 'Funny' Demeanor

Lisa Kudrow is holding her memory of late costar Matthew Perry close.

During a Saturday, March 28, appearance on Capital FM, the actress, 62, revealed she decided to rewatch Friends after Perry died at age 54 in October 2023 due to a drug overdose.

“After Matthew passed away, there were marathons [on TV] and that was really comforting watching the show,” she said. “Also just because it makes me laugh, and there he was, and he was just so funny. I mean, the funniest. Sorry everybody else, but yeah, just truly. So I thought, ‘Alright, now I need to – Why don’t I just see what this show’s about,’ you know? ‘Cause I didn’t watch every episode when we were shooting. I had a kid and I don’t know, just none of us were.”

Kudrow was asked whether anything surprised her while reminiscing.

“No, the great thing, because when I would see parts of it or something, and see myself, I would be, depending on my mood, like, ‘Ugh, come on, just stop it. Why’d you do that?’” she replied. “And now I can just say, ‘Alright, I can forgive you for that.’ And also, 'Oh! She’s funny.' Yeah, she’s a funny character, but everyone’s making me laugh my a-- off.”

During a Sunday, March 22, interview on CBS Sunday Morning, the 62-year-old reiterated the importance of rewatching Friends for the first time as a tribute to Perry.

“I [hadn’t] watched it [before]. I think I was self-conscious if anyone walked by and saw me watching my own show. It embarrassed me. But when Matthew passed away, there were marathons, and I watched it, and it really did comfort me,” she explained. “It wasn’t about me. It was about watching Matthew and all of us, and it was this other thing, and I really enjoyed it.”

The show’s ability to draw people closer is what keeps it relevant to Kudrow to this day.

“It got people through a hard time, feeling really isolated and alone, and it helped fill a hole or made them feel a connection,” she expressed. “I think, especially now, you wouldn’t expect young people to still want to watch an old show, a 20-something, 30-year-old show. The technology is different, all of that. But I do feel like there’s this unconscious nostalgia for connection.”

The actress is not ashamed that people are linking her to her Friends character decades after its 1994 debut.

“I never went through that period of, ‘No, no, I don’t want to talk about Friends, I have to move on, and I want to play other characters, and no, you have to know me from…’” she said. “No, no, that’s fine…Friends gave me everything. It just did. And I loved being Phoebe. I loved the whole experience, and I don’t want to move away from it.”