Lisa Kudrow found a secret note from Matthew Perry after his death
Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow in 2015 Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Lisa Kudrow discovered a hidden note from Matthew Perry around a year after the actor deceased.
Kudrow, 61, said Drew Barrymore on Tuesday, January 7, episode of The Drew Barrymore Showthat she “recently” found a note Perry had written to her while the pair were working on the final episode of Friends in 2004.
Perry, who died in October 2023 at the age of 54 from acute complications of ketamine, had put the note in a cookie jar that he had taken from the television hit comedy series‘ Sentence. “Matthew gave this to me at the end of our last episode,” Kudrow told Barrymore, 49. “I had recently found the note he had in there for me. I hadn’t opened it or looked inside. But yes, he did. He had a note in it and I forgot it.”
Kudrow didn’t share what the note said, but added, “Timing is everything.”
Lisa Kudrow is keeping Matthew Perry’s memory alive by rewatching old episodes of Friends. “Honestly, I couldn’t watch it because it’s too embarrassing to watch myself. But when it comes to Matthew, that’s fine,” Kudrow, 60, told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, June 26. “And it’s all about celebrating how hilarious he is (…)”
The cookie jar was a familiar prop on the Friends Set resembling a clock with the words “Cookie Time” written on it. Kudrow, who portrayed the eccentric Phoebe Buffay in the series, which began in September 1994 and ran on television screens for ten years, recalled a touching memory of the glass during her 2020 appearance Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“We shot a scene years before the end,” Lisa told Kimmel, 57, on the talk show in May 2020. “My line was, ‘Ohhh, I’m late.’ “I better get going,” and it was too late when I realized I didn’t have a watch. As the words came out, I said, ‘Oh, well, there’s a clock,’ and I pointed to the cookie jar and said, ‘Oh, look at the time.’ I better get going.'”
Kudrow added that after her comment, Perry, who portrayed the hilarious Chandler Bing, walked up to her and said, “Did you point to the cookie jar and say, ‘Look at the time?'” to which both Kudrow and Perry laughed.
Lisa Kudrow joins her Friends colleagues in mourning the death of her co-star Matthew Perry. “I shot the pilot, Friends Like Us, got picked up straight away, we were at the NBC Upfronts. Then… They suggested we play poker AND it was so much fun that we initially met. Thank you very much for that,” Kudrow, (…)
Perry’s death was decided an accident Two months after he was found lifeless in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. The actor was declared dead on October 28, 2023.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office released a toxicology report that concluded Perry died as a result of ketamine, citing drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use) as contributing factors.
In a homage To Perry, posted via Instagram on November 15th of this year, Kudrow wrote: “Thank you for making me laugh so hard at something you said that my muscles ached and I cried EVERY DAY the face ran.” Thank you for your open heart in a six-way relationship that required compromise. And a lot of “talking”. Thank you for showing up at work when you weren’t feeling well and then being absolutely brilliant.”
