In one of the most touching moments from 2021’s Friends reunion special, Matthew Perry – the supremely talented actor who played the delightfully sarcastic Chandler Bing across 10 seasons of the era-defining comedy, and tragically passed away on 28 October, aged just 54 – spoke about the relationship he had with his co-stars after the series ended. “The best way that I can describe it is, after the show was over, at a party or any kind of social gathering, if one of us bumped into each other, that was it, that was the end of the night,” he said, sitting on the squishy yellow armchair in the living room set beside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer. “You just sat with the person all night long. You apologised to the people you were with, but they had to understand you had met somebody special to you and you were going to talk to that person for the rest of the night. That’s the way it worked with all of us. It’s just the way it is.”

It’s a sentiment that was echoed by his five fellow actors, of whom Perry was the youngest, in a joint statement released to People on 30 October. “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew,” it read. “We were more than just castmates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss. In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”