David Schwimmer offers rare insight into Matthew Perry friendship

David Schwimmer has given a rare insight into his friendship with late Friends co-star Matthew Perry.

The actors were co-stars for a decade as they appeared on Friends from 1994 until 2004 - and the cast reformed for a reunion special in 2021.

The stars of the show were left devastated last October when Perry died at the age of 54 after taking drugs at his Los Angeles home and drowning in his hot tub.

Appearing on the Origins With Cush Jumbo podcast this week, Schwimmer, 57, candidly discussed the way Perry viewed him while they worked together.

Host Cush Jumbo, who worked with Perry on The Good Fight, recalled discussing physical comedy with the late star, and remarked, "I was saying, 'Is David just someone who just does it? It just comes off of him?'

"He talked about how it's not out of control at all, that you're a linchpin person in a scene that mostly people were always looking to you to know physically what direction things should go in, that without you being the pin, the other things don't work which I thought was very, very complimentary and probably very true."

Schwimmer was moved by the anecdote and replied, "That's a huge compliment and I'm surprised to hear it because Matthew was reserved with me. He would not say that to me, but I appreciate that a lot."

Perry's Friends co-stars mourned his loss in a joint statement last year, declaring, "We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family."