“Tom Selleck and Matthew Perry’s Unexpected Moustache Moment”
Tom Selleck recently shared some of his favorite memories of working with Matthew Perry during his guest appearance on Friends. The 79-year-old actor, who played Monica’s (Courteney Cox) older love interest Richard Burke, reminisced about filming the season two episode, “The One Where Old Yeller Dies.” In this episode, Perry’s character, Chandler Bing, attempts to grow a moustache reminiscent of Selleck’s iconic look. Selleck recalled laughing along with the studio audience when Perry walked onto the set sporting what could only be described as an amusing attempt at a moustache. “When Perry walked onto the set, it brought the house down,” Selleck said.
Selleck enjoyed delivering the subsequent line to Chandler: “Nice moustache, by the way. When puberty hits, that thing’s really going to kick in.”
He praised Perry as “the most talented of a very talented group of people” and shared a memorable experience from the set. Selleck sought Perry’s help with delivering a line in Perry’s signature sarcastic tone. “Matthew had this speech pattern that I wasn’t aware of,” Selleck explained. “Matt told me, ‘It’s a joke, Tom. It’s the way he says it.’ During the whole show, I kept asking him, ‘Can you say it again?’ and he’d do the line. That was his signature.”
Selleck also spoke warmly of Perry’s genuine camaraderie with his Friends co-stars. He noted that the chemistry among the cast was real and heartfelt. “There are no bad stories. No star stuff. Nothing like that there,” Selleck said. “You’d sit down to get notes on rehearsal, and it was fascinating. Courteney would be sitting on somebody’s lap and then someone else’s the next time. They all just got along.”
Reflecting on Perry’s passing, Selleck acknowledged the profound loss. Perry was found unresponsive in his home’s swimming pool on October 28, 2023, and was pronounced dead at his Los Angeles home. A post-mortem revealed that his death was an accident caused by the acute effects of ketamine.
