Highlights
- Matthew Perry and Bruce Willis became close friends after working together on the film "The Whole Nine Yards" and would go out partying together.
- Perry realized that Willis was a good-hearted and caring person behind the scenes, which made their friendship even stronger.
- Willis made a cameo on "Friends" because he lost a bet to Perry, who bet that their movie would be successful, and when it was, Willis honored the bet and appeared on the show.
Ever since he got his big break playing Chandler Bing in Friends, Matthew Perry became one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors. Throughout his career, this actor proved he was as wholesome behind the scenes as he appeared to be when the cameras were rolling.
As Friends co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane said in a statement following Perry's sudden death, “He was always the funniest person in the room. More than that, he was the sweetest, with a giving and selfless heart.” His Friends' co-stars couldn’t agree more with this sentiment.
Bruce Willis is another Hollywood star who learned firsthand how great of a person Perry was. The two actors worked together on several projects, including Willis’ brief cameo on Friends, but their relationship was deeper than most fans realize.
Matthew Perry And Bruce Willis Became Good Friends After Working Together In The Whole Nine Yards
The late Matthew Perry is better known for playing Chandler Bing in the beloved sitcom Friends, but the actor also appeared in many more popular TV shows and movies. For instance, Perry co-starred in The Whole Nine Yards alongside Bruce Willis back in 2000. In this action-comedy flick, Perry played Nicholas “Oz” Oseransky, a dentist who discovers that his new neighbor, Jimmy Tudesky (Willis), is a contract killer.
While working together on this film, Perry and Willis quickly became fast friends. In fact, in his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry revealed that the two would often go out partying together. "But there was a big difference between Bruce and me," Perry wrote (via Entertainment Weekly). "Bruce was a partier; I was an addict. Bruce has an on-off button. He can party like crazy, then get a script like The Sixth Sense and stop the partying and nail the movie sober. He doesn't have the gene — he's not an addict."
However, it was after the parties had ended that Perry learned how incredible of a person Willis really is. In his memoir, Perry wrote that when the cameras weren’t rolling, he "saw the real Bruce Willis — a good-hearted man, a caring man, selfless." The Friends star further added, "A wonderful parent. And a wonderful actor. And most important, a good guy." The two would reunite once again in 2004 for the sequel, The Whole Ten Yards.
Matthew Perry Showed His Support For Bruce Willis After The Actor Was Diagnosed With Aphasia
In 2022, Bruce Willis was diagnosed with aphasia, a cognitive disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate. Because of this, Willis retired from acting at 67. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the actor’s condition has progressed to frontotemporal dementia.
Although he admitted that they hadn’t been in touch for many years, Matthew Perry showed his support for Willis after the Die Hard actor was first diagnosed with aphasia.
“Dear Bruce Willis, I'm so sorry to hear what you are going through, but you're still the coolest man I've met in my entire life. You will remain in my prayers for a long long time. Maybe we should get together and watch the whole 10 yards and get a couple of hours of sleep,” Perry tweeted. Furthermore, the Friends star revealed that after hearing about Willis’ diagnosis, he kept his former co-star in his thoughts and prayers. He adds, "I, of course, pray for him every night now," Perry wrote in his memoir.
Upon Perry’s sudden death on October 28th, Rumer Willis shared a wholesome memory of meeting the Friends alum while he and his father worked together in The Whole Nine Yards. “I’m so sad to hear about Matthew Perry passing. When I was a kid and I was on set ... he was so kind and funny and sweet with my sisters and me ... I know he had many challenges in his life and brought a lot of joy to people with his comedy. I hope he can rest peacefully,” Willis shared in an Instagram story.
Matthew Perry Convinced Bruce Willis to Make a Cameo on Friends
In 2000, Bruce Willis made a brief cameo on Friends, playing Paul Stevens, the over-protective father of Ross Geller’s much younger girlfriend Elizabeth. Willis did such a good job that this became the best cameo in Friends according to fans, and he even won an Emmy for his performance.
Believe it or not, Willis only appeared on Friends because he lost a bet to Matthew Perry. It all started when the two worked together in the movie The Whole Nine Yards. "Bruce hadn't been sure the film would work at all, and I'd bet him it would — if he lost, he had to do a guest spot on Friends," Perry wrote in his memoir.
Ultimately, The Whole Nine Yards grossed over $106 million at the box office worldwide, which was a significant gross margin against its $41 million budget. Upon the film’s successful run in theaters, Willis kept true to his word and made a small appearance in Friends.
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