David Schwimmer Credits Matthew Perry For Creating A "Family Out Of Six Strangers"

Like every single Friends fans, David Schwimmer will “never forget” all the laughs Matthew Perry gave us as Chandler Bing. Two weeks after Perry’s death at the age of 54, Schwimmer posted a touching tribute to his former co-star, crediting the late actor’s character and humor for making the Friends cast “a family.”

“Matty, Thank you for ten incredible years of laughter and creativity,” Schwimmer wrote on Instagram. “I will never forget your impeccable comic timing and delivery. You could take a straight line of dialogue and bend it to your will, resulting in something so entirely original and unexpectedly funny it still astonishes. And you had heart. Which you were generous with, and shared with us, so we could create a family out of six strangers.”

Schwimmer also shared a photo of him and Perry from a Season 5 episode of Friends, “The One With All The Thanksgivings,” which he described as one of his “favorite” moments with Perry. Schwimmer’s Ross Gellar and Perry’s character met as college roommates and remained best friends throughout the entirety of the show.

“This photo is from one of my favorite moments with you,” Schwimmer’s post continued. “Now it makes me smile and grieve at the same time. I imagine you up there, somewhere, in the same white suit, hands in your pockets, looking around — ‘Could there BE any more clouds?’”

In Perry’s memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, he credited Schwimmer’s own generosity in Season 1 for encouraging the cast to stick together as a team when it came time for contract negotiations to secure equal pay for everyone. Perry said that Schwimmer told him, “When we renegotiate our contracts, we should do it as a team. We should all get paid the same amount,” Perry recalled Schwimmer telling him in his dressing room. “He was by far the one in the best position to negotiate. I could not believe what he was saying. Needless to say, I was thrilled. I was perfectly happy to take advantage of his generosity of spirit.” Perry added that “it was a decision that proved to be extremely lucrative down the line.”

By the final season of Friends, the entire cast was making $1 million dollars per episode.

Perry’s legacy and humor has been remembered by several of his Friends castmates. Courteney Cox, who played Monica Gellar and later became Chandler’s wife, shared a behind-the-scenes story about filiming with Perry on the set of Friends and remembered him as “funny” and “kind.” Matt LeBlanc, who played his roommate and best friend Joey Tribbiani, said he treasures their time together. “The times we had together are honestly among the favorite times of my life,” LeBlanc wrote on Instagram. “It was an honor to share the stage with you and to call you my friend.”