Conan O’Brien was “jealous” when ex Lisa Kudrow heaped praise on Matthew Perry.
Conan O’Brien was ‘jealous’ of Matthew Perry
The 61-year-old late night talk show host dated the ‘Friends’ actress from 1988 until 1993, and he has admitted finding it tough hearing her gush over her late co-star’s sense of humour in the iconic sitcom, which ran for a decade from 1994.
Chatting to Lisa, 60, on his own ‘Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend’ podcast, he said: “You called me up, and you were raving about [Matthew].
“And you were saying, he’s so funny… There was part of me that was jealous.
“Like, I was okay. I make you laugh pretty hard, and you were like, ‘No, you don’t understand. This guy’s really [funny].’ ”
Conan later attended Lisa’s wedding to Michel Stern two years after their breakup, and he got married himself to Liza Powel O’Brien in 2002.
Perry died aged 54 in October 2023, and since his death, Lisa has started watching ‘Friends’ again.
She explained: “I mean, I’d see it on and be mildly interested, and then I’d see me and say, ‘That’s enough of that. I can’t bear it.’
“And then well, listen. After Matthew died, I could start watching the show again because it wasn’t about me. It had to do with him for some reason.”
Lisa hailed the entire cast – which also featured Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc – as “phenomenally hilarious”.
However, she had special praise for Perry, whom Conan described as having “impeccable timing”.
She said: “He was such a huge [talent]. I thought that Chandler character, when I read it, I went, ‘Oh, they have a gay character, that’s good’.
“And so at the table read, I just did a double take at him. Oh my god.
“That I never even in a million years could have envisioned anyone playing the character like that and with his own rhythm and everything. It’s his own.”
Lisa recently opened up on rewatching ‘Friends’ as her own way of “celebrating how hilarious” Perry was, and she has been “laughing out loud” at the rest of the cast.
She told The Hollywood Reporter: “I’m blown away by Courteney Cox. I’m blown away by Jen.
“Matthew, obviously, is just uniquely hilarious. No one ever knew that cadence or comedic rhythm before him.
“Matt LeBlanc is hilarious. And David Schwimmer, too. Sometimes I even laugh at what I’ve done.”
