Matthew Perry and Julia Roberts became friends before Roberts’ guest appearance on Season 2 of F.R.I.E.N..D.S. and went on to date for six months before breaking up in April 1996. In an excerpt from his new memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, he revealed he broke up with the ‘beautiful and brilliant’ Roberts due to his own struggles with addiction and not feeling ‘enough’ for her.
According to the excerpts published by the Times, the actor said, “Dating Julia Roberts had been too much for me. I had been constantly certain that she was going to break up with me. Why would she not? I was not enough; I could never be enough; I was broken, bent, unloveable. So instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts. She might have considered herself slumming it with a TV guy, and TV guy was now breaking up with her. I can’t begin to describe the look of confusion on her face.”
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The actor also disclosed how Julia Roberts agreed to play a cameo in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. He divulged, “Julia had been offered the post-Super Bowl episode in season 2, and she would only do the show if she could be in my storyline. Let me say that again — she would only do the show if she could be in my storyline. (Was I having a good year or what?) But first, I had to woo her.” Her reply was that if I adequately explained quantum physics to her, she’d agree to be on the show. Wow. First of all, I’m in an exchange with the woman for whom lipstick was invented, and now I have to hit the books. The following day, I sent her a paper all about wave-particle duality and the uncertainty principle and entanglement, and only some of it was metaphorical. Not only did Julia agree to do the show, but she also sent me a gift: bagels — lots and lots of bagels. Sure, why not? It was Julia f—ing Roberts.”
Friends became known for its guest stars early on, with season 1 bringing on the likes of Jennifer Grey and George Clooney. The sitcom continued to attract mega-stars throughout its run, with everyone from Robin Williams to Charlie Sheen, Denise Richards, Winona Ryder, Selma Blair, Jeff Goldblum, Danny DeVito, and Brad Pitt showing up, in addition to many other high-calibre talents. Former Magnum P.I. star Tom Selleck was one of a few celebrity guest stars that went on to enjoy a longer story arc, with Selleck playing Monica’s boyfriend.
