Matthew Perry

[username123!]

I think what’s happened to Matthew Perry is very sad. I think he was the most talented of all the Friends actors but has squandered all his potential for his life on and off screen through his addictions. It’s such a shame he seems unable to get and stay clean. Like others have said I don’t see him living a long life as he already looks desperately ill.

I thought it was very interesting watching him on the reunion, he seemed less Hollywood than any of them, especially with the truth of ‘I don’t hear from anyone’
What they all had to cope with, such fame and intrusion etc he seemed to see through that life and couldn’t cope and lost his actual way whereas the others live and breathe Hollywood and coped in the way they needed the attention to thrive if that makes sense? Just my obs

 

[EastofHollywood]

I think what’s happened to Matthew Perry is very sad. I think he was the most talented of all the Friends actors but has squandered all his potential for his life on and off screen through his addictions. It’s such a shame he seems unable to get and stay clean. Like others have said I don’t see him living a long life as he already looks desperately ill.

I agree. He has just been so troubled for so long. Agree I think he was the most talented of all of them and had the most natural comic timing. None of them have done brilliantly after Friends privately or professionally apart from maybe Lisa Kudrow. Interestingly she was the least stereotypical of the female characters. She also looks the most natural now.

 

[MrFMercury]

Yep I think you’ve both nailed a couple of really important points That explain a lot of how their lives and careers have unfolded post friends.

I feel for all of them being compared to their younger selves though, no one ever comes off that comparison feeling good about themselves.

 

[Silverback]

I will honestly be so sad if he passes away. I always loved him as Chandler and have been rooting for him to make it through his problems.

 

[Amelia99]

I thought it was very interesting watching him on the reunion, he seemed less Hollywood than any of them, especially with the truth of ‘I don’t hear from anyone’
What they all had to cope with, such fame and intrusion etc he seemed to see through that life and couldn’t cope and lost his actual way whereas the others live and breathe Hollywood and coped in the way they needed the attention to thrive if that makes sense? Just my obs

I agree. I think he is a very intelligent and talented guy and, ironically, those are often the sort of people who seem most susceptible to addictions and mental health problems. Maybe because they think too deeply about things and can’t settle for just taking things as they come and rolling with life’s ups and downs.

 

[lira]

I've been rewatching Friends since the reunion and the dramatic weight loss on the women from season 5 onwards is scary. Someone mentioned it previously on here and I didn't really notice it on anyone other than Courtney previously but even Jennifer had gone from curvy to ironing board.

 

[GeorgeP123]

I've been rewatching Friends since the reunion and the dramatic weight loss on the women from season 5 onwards is scary. Someone mentioned it previously on here and I didn't really notice it on anyone other than Courtney previously but even Jennifer had gone from curvy to ironing board.

I saw the one where she gets with Ross for the first time and she had such an axing figure. Like a really curvy bum nut totally flat tummy. Real curves which are in fashion at the moment but she seems to have totally changed her whole figure. She is no longer curvy and doesn't have a shapely bum!

 

[lira]

I saw the one where she gets with Ross for the first time and she had such an axing figure. Like a really curvy bum nut totally flat tummy. Real curves which are in fashion at the moment but she seems to have totally changed her whole figure. She is no longer curvy and doesn't have a shapely bum!

Yes! And Courtney went from being the one with "the chest" (in the script) to being pretty much flat. They're beautiful either way but it's just a shocking difference.

 

[chandlercheesecake]

There is one episode in a later season where Jennifer/Rachel is wearing her hair in a ponytail, and it looks like a wig. Every time I see that episode I think it looks strange, and I think it is made more obvious because she had lost weight in her face by then.

Slightly OT, but some things in Friends didn't age well with HD! There is an episode where Courteney/Monica is obviously wearing a wig too (must've been when she was filming one of the Scream films), and some snow in a winter/Christmas episode is obviously cotton wool or something. In the episode "TOW the Worst Best Man Ever", you can see Matt Le Blanc trying to stifle a laugh in the background in one scene.

 

[Woolmercardington]

I saw the one where she gets with Ross for the first time and she had such an axing figure. Like a really curvy bum nut totally flat tummy. Real curves which are in fashion at the moment but she seems to have totally changed her whole figure. She is no longer curvy and doesn't have a shapely bum!

She had a gorgeous figure in the early days but clearly the type of figure that would have got a LOT curvier as she got older. I don't think The Powers That Be would have found that acceptable. Also, she clearly wants this type of figure, she looks like she goes through agonies to maintain it. I guess it's very hard to accept natural ageing, etc, when you've been a sex symbol.

 

[Vee6]

There was a documentary I watched years ago at my aunties house about Friends when it was still on. And it was about filming it in front of a live audience and how they kept them there for hours and hours until they got the laughs they wanted. And it was at the time when the women were tiny and size 0 was all over the press. And I’m sure one of them, maybe Lisa said that the studio audience and viewers expected them to be that tiny. And there was so much pressure on them to have that look

 

[Webster2468]

Yes! And Courtney went from being the one with "the chest" (in the script) to being pretty much flat. They're beautiful either way but it's just a shocking difference.

I wonder why they felt like they needed to be SO thin?? I mean, not just slim, or trim, but zero body large. It must have been so hard to maintain, especially as they got older

 

[Silverback]

It must have been horrendous pressure on them to maintain being stick thin and I’m sure eating disorders must have come into play.

 

[The Devils Arse]

Can any clever poster put up a comparison photo? I can never recall the women being anything other than tiny. Must be my old age! Thanks

 

[LennyBriscoe]

This is Rachel series 1

This is Monica Series 1

And this is the final episode, but I think Courtney was pregnant/just had her baby around then?

 

[Bingbongding]

Yes! And Courtney went from being the one with "the chest" (in the script) to being pretty much flat. They're beautiful either way but it's just a shocking difference.

She is rumoured to have had small implants that were later removed.

 

[I'msayingnothing]

Back when Friends first aired, it was during that "size 0" (or less) era. Lots of actresses looked worryingly thin. Remember Calista Flockart, Portia De Rossi? When Kate Winslet was considered large?! The pressures they must have felt from within the industry is just horrible. Thankfully, we seem to have come a long way since then but I reckon there's still a long way to go.

 

[The Devils Arse]

This is Rachel series 1

This is Monica Series 1View attachment 611323

And this is the final episode, but I think Courtney was pregnant/just had her baby around then?View attachment 611324

Thank you! They had lovely figures. And if the camera does add 10lb they must have still been quite slim in season 1.

 

[Webster2468]

Thank you! They had lovely figures. And if the camera does add 10lb they must have still been quite slim in season 1.

Those top pictures of Jen An are Season 1, and I'd say she's really thin there already, though she looks natural and healthy. Season 4 onwards she's really thin, as is Courtney. The scene where Monica is dancing with a turkey on her head (Season 5), she looks beyond tiny

 

[Woolmercardington]

They were both slim but had more natural figures. Jennifer had quite a full/plump face, but as others have said they both got so thin that it went against their earlier natural figures and they started to look more thin in the face.