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Did Matthew Perry and Lauren Graham Date? Inside Their Relationship: ‘No One Made Me Laugh as Hard’
In November 2023, Lauren Graham broke her silence on Matthew Perry more than two weeks after his death, sharing insight into his perspective on life in the year leading up to his passing. The two were known as longtime friends, but did Lauren and Matthew ever date? The costars sparked rumors many years ago.
Did Matthew Perry and Lauren Graham Date?
The Friends alum and Gilmore Girls actress were rumored to have dated in 2003, but they never confirmed their relationship at the time. However, Lauren finally put the rumors to rest years later in her 2016 memoir, Talking as Fast as I Can. She described their first meeting, revealing that they flirted but never actually had a romantic relationship.
“The only bright spot, men-wise, was at an event where I met Matthew Perry,” she wrote. “He became my longtime Friend Who I Almost But Never Exactly Dated, or FWIABNED.”
Were Matthew Perry and Lauren Graham Married?
Though Matthew and Lauren never tied the knot in real life, they were married on both the big and small screens, which likely contributed to the real-life romance rumors. They played husband and wife Morrie and Betty Tanager in the 2008 film Birds of Prey, sharing noticeable chemistry. The pair later reunited in the 2015 reboot of The Odd Couple, where Lauren played Matthew’s character’s ex-wife.
Matthew spoke fondly about Lauren in a Q&A at the time, calling her one of his “favorite people.”
“We have great chemistry when working together and it’s fun to work with a close friend,” he said.
Lauren and Matthew worked together a few other times, including a 2006 episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and an episode of Matthew’s 2012 sitcom Go On. They also appeared in the same 2013 episode of Piers Morgan Live.
Did Lauren Graham React to Matthew Perry’s Death?
Matthew died at the age of 54 on October 28, 2023, after an apparent drowning in a hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home. Police were called to his residence for a man experiencing cardiac arrest, and the Friends star was found unresponsive. His cause of death has been deferred as of publication pending a toxicology report.
Lauren reacted to her friend’s death in a November 16 interview on CBS Mornings. She revealed that, in “this last year,” Matthew was “so proud” of his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing “and of how many people it touched.”
“It was a success that gave him a level of happiness that I hadn’t seen in him for a really long time, so that’s a nice memory,” she added.
Lauren continued on to say that she was “still in shock” over the news of his death.
“I mean, it’s a really tragic loss, and he leaves his beautiful work behind,” the Broadway actress said. “That’s something to be thankful for, and again, the book really meant something to him, so it was a really happy year for him.”
“No one made me laugh as hard,” Lauren concluded as she remembered him. “Just tears, streaming. There was just such joy in being around him and being his friend.”
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