Lisa Kudrow is rewatching “Friends” to remember Matthew Perry

"If I make it about Matthew, then that’s okay," Kudrow says of why she's finally watching her old sitcom.

Lisa Kudrow is paying tribute to her late costar and friend Matthew Perry in the best way she knows how: by rewatching Friends.

Related: Friends stars remember Matthew Perry in emotional tribute posts: 'He made all of us laugh'

Kudrow has previously admitted she was "mortified" seeing herself onscreen in the beloved '90s sitcom, which is why she hardly watched it on her own. But now, she's begun rewatching old episodes to remember Perry, who died Oct. 28, 2023, at age 54 from acute effects of ketamine (the criminal investigation by authorities is ongoing).

"Honestly, I wasn’t able to watch it because it’s too embarrassing to watch yourself," Kudrow told The Hollywood Reporter while promoting her new Apple TV+ series Time Bandits. "But if I make it about Matthew, then that’s okay. And it’s just celebrating how hilarious he was — and that is what I want to remember [about him]."

Kudrow added that she's "laughing out loud" while watching the series now because "everyone is hilarious."

"I’m blown away by Courteney Cox, I’m blown away by Jen [Aniston]," she said. "Matthew, obviously, is just uniquely hilarious. No one ever knew that cadence or comedic rhythm before him. Matt LeBlanc is hilarious, and David Schwimmer, too. Sometimes I even laugh at what I’ve done. That’s my own little way of celebrating [the anniversaries], just watching it. But it’s embarrassing. At home, if anyone walks in the room and I’m watching Friends, that’s a horrible look, I think, don’t you?"

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While Kudrow openly admits she doesn't remember a lot of what happened in the episodes, she'll never forget the happiness she felt during filming with the ensemble cast. "You’re just laughing all day long, basically, in between the scenes, because these are funny people," she said. "And especially someone like Matthew whose goal was: How many laughs can I get in real life every day? So we were always laughing so hard, tears were flying out of our faces."

When it comes to how everyone else should remember Perry, Kudrow added: "I think the world is remembering him the way he wanted to be remembered. I think that’s happening [already]."

Related: A look back at Matthew Perry's best moments as Chandler Bing on Friends

During the Friends reunion special, after playing a "Smelly Cat" duet with Lady Gaga, Kudrow previously revealed she finally began watching the show 25 years later, and it's only because her husband Michel Stern was watching it. "Michel and I started watching some of season 4, which I thought I had watched, it's as if I didn't," she said. "He enjoys them more than I do because I'm mortified with myself."

Kudrow will be seen next in Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement's adaptation of Terry Gilliam’s 1981 fantasy classic Time Bandits. The series (debuting July 24) follows an 11-year-old history geek named Kevin (Kal-El Tuck) as he journeys through the centuries with a ragtag group of thieves led by led by Kudrow’s Penelope. "I just love Lisa Kudrow and thought it’d be awesome to see her leading a band of idiots through time," Waititi previously told EW.

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