Matthew Perry felt he 'owed' Friends co-star David Schwimmer £24 million

06 November 2023 , 17:10

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Matthew Perry felt he 'owed' Friends co-star David Schwimmer £24 million

Matthew Perry once said that he felt as though he "owed" his former colleague David Schwimmer about $30 million over the cast's salaries from their time on the show Friends.

The late actor - who died, aged 54, just last month - is best known for having played Chandler Bing on the NBC sitcom. The show ran for ten seasons from 1994 to 2004 and made household names of the main cast including Matthew.

He had starred alongside the likes of David, now 57, and Jennifer Aniston, now 54, on the award-winning show. The main cast also included the trio's co-stars Courteney Cox, now 59, Lisa Kudrow, now 60, and Matt LeBlanc, now 56.

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Matthew Perry (centre) starred alongside the likes of Matt LeBlanc (left) and David Schwimmer (right) on the NBC sitcom Friends (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Matthew wrote about his former colleagues in his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, which was released last year. This included him stating that David had encouraged the main cast to renegotiate their salaries as a group.

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David - who's said to have been considered the breakout star of the show in its first season - is said to have approached Matthew during the "first year" on the show and suggested that the cast negotiate "as a team" and "all get paid the same amount."

"It was a decision that proved to be extremely lucrative down the line," Matthew wrote. He said that David had been in a position to go for "the most money" but didn't. He added that it led to a supportive culture among the cast.

Their co-stars were Courteney Cox (front left), Lisa Kudrow (back centre left) and Jennifer Aniston (front right) (NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Matthew once said that David encouraged the cast getting paid the same (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Sky)

He said that the decision served to make the cast "take care of each other" through what he described as a "myriad of stressful" negotations over the years. Matthew added that the approach gave them a "tremendous amount of power".

The late actor said in the memoir that by the eighth season, which aired in 2001, they were making $1 m (around £800,000) per episode. He commented that this increased slightly by the tenth season, which aired in 2003, and that they asked to do fewer episodes that season too.

He teased that he "owed" David about $30 million (around £24 million). Matthew wrote in his memoir: "We had David's goodness, and his astute business sense, to thank for what we had been offered. I owe you about $30m, David."

The sitcom ran for ten seasons from 1994 to 2004 (NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

The apparent collective salary negotations have previously made headlines. And although Matthew suggested that the cast had pursued the same salary during the first year of production, it's been suggested elsewhere that it was for season three, which was broadcast from 1996 to 1997.

According to the Guardian, the cast are said to have been paid around $22,500 (around £18,000) per episode in the first season, but David and Jennifer reportedly began earning more than their co-stars by the second season as their character's became particularly popularity.

The outlet reports that it was for the third season that David - who played Ross Geller - decided that the cast should pursue equal pay. It's been suggested that both David and Jennifer took a pay cut as part of the team approach.

Joel Leaver