‘Feels like I’m losing a son’: Friends director reveals what made Matthew Perry ‘extraordinary’
The global outpouring of grief over actor Matthew Perry’s shocking death is no surprise to those who knew him best.
Perry brought an unvarnished humanness to his role as Chandler Bing on the mega hit Friends and forged a deep connection with the show’s international audience.

According to the man who directed the TV show’s pilot and several other episodes, James Burrows, audiences related to Chandler due to the character being enmeshed with Matthew Perry.

“You know he stepped into that character about 40 per cent Matt and 60 per cent Chandler,” Burrows told 60 Minutes.

“Then it grew to 60 per cent Matt and 40 per cent Chandler.”

There is a particular scene in Friends where the director thinks Perry epitomised this unique injection of himself into Chandler.

It’s when Chandler is stuck in a blackout in an ATM vestibule with Victoria’s Secret model Jill Goodacre.

“It was a wonderful moment, and my favourite scene,” Burrows said.

Perry’s ingenuity was seen through his creation of Chandler’s quirks, which have since been impersonated by the masses.

“Matthew had a way of taking a great line and making it extraordinary by putting emphasis on the wrong syllable,” Burrows said.

Life imitated art on the set of Friends with the cast and crew forming lifelong relationships.

Speculation swirled surrounding the cause of Perry’s death after he was found unresponsive in his jacuzzi on October 28.