Summary
- Matthew Perry’s memoir reveals that David Schwimmer was a true friend to his co-stars on Friends, advocating for equal salaries during negotiations.
- The close bond and chemistry between the cast members played a crucial role in the success of Friends.
- Despite the potential for conflict over salary differences, joint negotiation helped the actors stay together and strengthened their bond, leading to record-breaking salaries for the final season.
Ross Geller may not always be the favorite Friends character for audience of the series, but the late Matthew Perry‘s memoir makes it clear that David Schwimmer was a very good friend with his co-stars.
After the tragic and unfortunate death of Perry, who played Chandler Bing in the successful 90s sitcom, the cast of Friends has once again been on everyone’s lips, especially due to the close bond that the six protagonists of the show shared. Much of the series’ success hinged on the excellent chemistry between the main cast, which made it believable to see them as a group of real friends.
Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer were all equally important to the development of the story. However, when Ross and Rachel’s romance began to become more relevant, the production was close to going into crisis because Schwimmer and Aniston were supposed to receive a higher salary due to the popularity of their characters.
The Guardian published an excerpt from Perry’s memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, recounting that for season three of the show Schwimmer had the idea of all of them negotiating their salaries as a group and not individually, so that everyone would be paid the same:
“David had certainly been in a position to go for the most money, and he didn’t. I would like to think that I would have made the same move, but as a greedy 25-year-old, I’m not sure I would have. But his decision served to make us take care of each other through what turned out to be a myriad of stressful network negotiations, and it gave us a tremendous amount of power.”
The pay difference could have caused a huge gap within the group, however, joint negotiation helped the actors stay together, forming an even stronger bond between them that was the heart of the show from the beginning. For the final season of Friends, each of the six main cast members was earning more than $1 million per episode, a record for the time.
Matthew Perry Foundation Created to Help People with Addiction
Perry, who died at the age of 54 last week, was one of the great stars of Friends, and a highly regarded talent of his generation. Unfortunately, he battled addictions for years, which brought many ups and downs to his career. After his unfortunate passing, which left a huge mark on the entire Hollywood artistic community, the Matthew Perry Foundation was created, which aims to help those who also have problems with addictions:
“In the spirit of Matthew Perry’s enduring commitment to helping others struggling with the disease of addiction, we embark on a journey to honor his legacy by establishing the Matthew Perry Foundation, guided by his own words and experiences, and driven by his passion for making a difference in as many lives as possible”.
