As the jokester who wears snarkiness as emotional armor, Matthew Perry stole every Friends scene — even ones where he was theoretically absent. Photo: NBC/NBC via Getty Images
Matthew Perry was so good on Friends that even when he was trapped inside a box, he could steal an entire episode from his just-as-talented co-stars. In season four’s “The One With Chandler in a Box,” one of the best in a long line of Friends Thanksgiving episodes, Perry spends half the episode entirely out of view. After falling in love with Joey’s ex-girlfriend, Chandler has volunteered to stay in a wooden crate for six hours to prove how much he values their friendship. Though Perry, who died unexpectedly Saturday at the age of 54, can only be heard, not seen, for the duration of the ep, he’s able to demonstrate the breadth of his comedic gifts and a mastery of his character, the jokester who wears snarkiness as emotional armor.
Early in the episode, before Chandler goes into solitary confinement, he objects when Phoebe tells him that Rachel returns every gift she receives. “That’s not true,” Chandler says. “I got her that backpack and she loved it. I remember how much she was crying the day that big dog ran off with …” He pauses for a second, then says: “Well, there was no big dog.” Perry could have posed those five words as a question, as though he were wounded to just now discover Rachel’s deception. Instead, he states them matter-of-factly, with a syllabic emphasis on the “no,” suggesting he was mildly stunned and also a little disappointed in himself for believing the dog story until seconds ago. In the same scene, when Phoebe looks confused after Chandler says he bought Rachel a briefcase with the letters R and G, Perry offers, “Her initials …” with a tone that sounds helpful but has a thick coating of “Jesus, do I really have to explain this to you?” on top. Some of Perry’s best line deliveries come in that flavor.

His timing was so perfect that he rarely sounded even a millisecond off the mark. Think of him bursting from behind that famously purple apartment door in “The One With the Jellyfish” to shout, “I knew it!” after Rachel shouts to a departing Ross: “It’s not that common, it doesn’t happen to every guy, and it is a big deal!” Perry always knew exactly when to let a punchline fly. There’s a moment in “The One With Chandler Inside the Box” where Rachel and Ross get into an argument at the Thanksgiving table and Rachel storms out of the room, leaving everyone in an awkward silence. Perry waits five beats before shouting — again, from inside a box — “You can’t tell, but I’m trying to break the tension by mooning you guys!”
Eventually Joey grows sick of Chandler’s outbursts and asks him to get serious about the state of their friendship. Chandler agrees to stay quiet for the remainder of his time in the box, his silence a testament to how much he cares about Joey. Chandler Bing wasn’t a genuinely cynical person; he was a smartass who said the smartass things you wished you could say in the smartassiest way possible. But when a scene called for poignancy or sincerity, Perry brought that to the surface, which made his more derisive remarks so easy to embrace. Underneath the barbs, Chandler was sweet and gentle, which is why he was best friends with Joey; they had that in common. If Chandler had been written solely as the prototypical smart aleck, many actors of his generation could have played that role. Only Matthew Perry was uniquely suited to make Chandler likable. He knew how to make a remark sting and how to project softness. He could make the kind of wise cracks we only accept from our closest friends, the ones we know don’t really mean it.
In “The One With Chandler In a Box,” Kathy, Joey’s ex and Chandler’s current girlfriend, comes to talk to Chandler. Remaining silent inside that wooden crate, the word “Fragile” stamped across it, Chandler listens to Kathy, played by Padget Brewster, explain that they have to break up because she doesn’t want to ruin his friendship with Joey. Perry doesn’t say a word. After Kathy says goodbye, though, he pokes his index finger out of the box’s air hole and raises and lowers it as though he’s waving. There is something so tender and human in the way Perry wiggles that pointer, it brings tears to my eyes. That little gesture is proof that some people do have more talent in a single finger than others have in their whole bodies.

His timing was so perfect that he rarely sounded even a millisecond off the mark. Think of him bursting from behind that famously purple apartment door in “The One With the Jellyfish” to shout, “I knew it!” after Rachel shouts to a departing Ross: “It’s not that common, it doesn’t happen to every guy, and it is a big deal!” Perry always knew exactly when to let a punchline fly. There’s a moment in “The One With Chandler Inside the Box” where Rachel and Ross get into an argument at the Thanksgiving table and Rachel storms out of the room, leaving everyone in an awkward silence. Perry waits five beats before shouting — again, from inside a box — “You can’t tell, but I’m trying to break the tension by mooning you guys!”

Eventually Joey grows sick of Chandler’s outbursts and asks him to get serious about the state of their friendship. Chandler agrees to stay quiet for the remainder of his time in the box, his silence a testament to how much he cares about Joey. Chandler Bing wasn’t a genuinely cynical person; he was a smartass who said the smartass things you wished you could say in the smartassiest way possible. But when a scene called for poignancy or sincerity, Perry brought that to the surface, which made his more derisive remarks so easy to embrace. Underneath the barbs, Chandler was sweet and gentle, which is why he was best friends with Joey; they had that in common. If Chandler had been written solely as the prototypical smart aleck, many actors of his generation could have played that role. Only Matthew Perry was uniquely suited to make Chandler likable. He knew how to make a remark sting and how to project softness. He could make the kind of wise cracks we only accept from our closest friends, the ones we know don’t really mean it.

In “The One With Chandler In a Box,” Kathy, Joey’s ex and Chandler’s current girlfriend, comes to talk to Chandler. Remaining silent inside that wooden crate, the word “Fragile” stamped across it, Chandler listens to Kathy, played by Padget Brewster, explain that they have to break up because she doesn’t want to ruin his friendship with Joey. Perry doesn’t say a word. After Kathy says goodbye, though, he pokes his index finger out of the box’s air hole and raises and lowers it as though he’s waving. There is something so tender and human in the way Perry wiggles that pointer, it brings tears to my eyes. That little gesture is proof that some people do have more talent in a single finger than others have in their whole bodies.