Friends stars Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc have paid their first individual tributes to co-star Matthew Perry, who died last month at the age of 54. Perry was found dead at his Los Angeles home, sparking an outpouring of grief from fans worldwide.
Matt LeBlanc, who played Perry's on-screen roommate Joey, shared pictures of them on set and wrote on Instagram: 'It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye. The times we had together are honestly among the favourite times of my life. It was an honour to share the stage with you and to call you my friend. I will always smile when I think of you and I'll never forget you. Never.'
Courteney Cox, who played Perry's on-screen wife Monica, posted a clip of them together and said: 'When you work with someone as closely as I did with Matthew, there are thousands of moments I wish I could share. For now here's one of my favourites.' She revealed a behind-the-scenes story about how their characters' one-night fling in London became a love story due to audience reaction, adding: 'In this scene, before we started rolling, he whispered a funny line for me to say. He often did things like that. He was funny and he was kind.'
In a joint statement last month, Cox, LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer described Perry's death as an 'unfathomable loss', saying: 'We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We will always cherish the joy, the light, the blinding intelligence he brought to every moment.'
Perry's funeral took place earlier this month with his Friends co-stars reportedly in attendance. Authorities are still investigating the cause of his death. A new foundation has been set up in his name to continue his commitment to helping others struggling with addiction.
