When I first heard that Mathew Perry was going to publish a memoir I knew I wanted to read it. I loved watching Friends and Chandler was by far my favourite. Other than Friends I only knew Mathew Perry from Mr. Sunshine and the occasional guest appearances (e.g. The West Wing, Cougar Town, etc.) and I don’t remember ever watching any of his films.
Still, I was interested in reading it, even after seeing some very bad reviews on this sub, and I had it on my reading list for a while. When I heard he died I knew I had to get the audiobook and listen to him narrate it. It was weird to hear his voice so different that what I was used to from Friends and at times I found it a bit hard to follow his story since he was jumping from time period to time period but all n’ all I found it to be very very interesting, moving and sad.
In a way (even though he wasn’t as huge a comedic genious) I felt a very strong similiarity between his story and that of the amazing Robin Williams. Both were very funny and very popular and despite that both were very insecure and that led them to womenizing and alcohol/drug addiction.
I think his story was both interesing and sad. It was very moving when sometimes you could hear him choke up a little while narrating. I’m sure it was very difficult to relive all those terrible moments.
The biggest shame was when he mentioned he was 53 and looking forward to living a better life and knowing that in less than a year he’d actually die.
by Tombazzzz
1 Comment
The big difference between him and Robin Williams is that Robin Williams largely fulfilled his potential as a comedian and star. He was at certain points of his career arguably ranked the top 5 stars in Hollywood on any given year during the 80s and 90s. And he had become a fairly respected dramatic actor later in his career as well. Many of his demons were well hidden from the public.
I think the Matthew Perry’s demons prevented him from fulfilling his potential. He had real talent, and arguably was the most naturally charismatic of the Friends cast. But he was deeply insecure, he burned bridges that could have helped his career, and despite the media trying desperately to paint how close he was to his Friends cast in these obits lately, most of the evidence seems to indicate he was quite estranged from them in recent years.
I guess it’s strange to say someone didn’t fulfill their potential when they have the one iconic role which many other actors would die to have. But…Perry was basically stuck in the 1990s for most of his life. He didn’t really do much of note afterwards what with his drug problems, his falling out with many his friends, his anger and jealousy at those who were more successful than he was, and other issues.