Director of the Friends reunion talks about Matthew Perry

Last week I watched it twice and both times it was an emotional rollercoaster. Tears (twice, so yes, and I'm not even ashamed of it) and of course laughter. Yes: I'm of course talking about the Friends reunion. The long-awaited reunion, because fans have really been begging for this for years. And the expectations were quite high. I found it quite exciting: what if the reunion disappoints? Fortunately, that was not the case: I really enjoyed it a lot. But as was to be expected, because the internet remains the internet, there was also criticism. Especially about Matthew Perry: was he doing okay?

What you may not know is that Matthew Perry had an emergency dental surgery just before the reunion recordings, which probably explains why he was relatively quiet and had a bit of a strange way of speaking. His history with drugs and alcohol is also no secret, so that was quickly discussed as well. So much so that now director Ben Winston (who took care of the reunion) has gotten involved in the discussion.

‘I spoke to him and he is okay. He looked a lot better than the last time I saw him before that. And yes, what people say about him you can't stop, but sometimes those are very unkind things — which is unnecessary.’ Well, amen. I have really read so many reactions about the reunion on the internet, most of which were about Chandler — that people didn't recognize him and that he looked so bad. Honestly, I thought it was quite okay.

And fortunately, there is no question of a relapse. The reason he looks like this at the reunion is mainly due to the fact that Friends ended twenty (TWENTY) years ago. So this is a great moment to feel old yourself as well. At least that is the case for me.

Image Friends The Reunion: HBO