The producer and the director of the Friends Reunion episode, Kevin S. Bright and Ben Winston, have both opened up about the concern surrounding Matthew Perry's appearance in the episode.
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Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Kevin said: "I talked to him (Matthew). It was great seeing him again. What people say is what people say. I don't have any(thing) to say about that, except it was great to see him. And I think he's very funny on the show."
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He continued: "I think he's okay. He seems stronger and better since the last time I saw him, and excited about going forward."
Ben Winston added: "He was great. People can sometimes just be unkind. I wish they weren't. I loved working with him. He's a brilliantly funny man and I thought he had some great one-liners in the show. I felt just happy and lucky to be in his presence and directing him on something like this."
The creators of Friends were in the audience for the episode
Following the episode, some fans expressed concerns when Matthew admitted that he struggled with anxiety while filming the show, and felt a huge amount of pressure for the audience to laugh at his lines. Speaking about him, one person wrote: "Matthew Perry’s self-deprecating humour in the #FriendsReunion and the fact he can’t watch himself on the show absolutely devastates me and I just want him to know how much of an amazing actor he is and everyone loves him not just Chandler Bing and he deserves more acting roles."
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Another added: "It's ironic that Matthew Perry was so self-conscious about the possibility of not being funny when HE was the one that made all of us laugh the most, he was behind a lot of Chandler's best lines, his character helped so many people through depression. A legend."
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