‘The ironic, metrosexual lothario’: how Matthew Perry captured the spirit of the age
In any other era, the actor’s magnificently maladroit creation would have been the sidekick. Yet Perry made Chandler Bing the standout Friends character, writing him 10 extra jokes per show‘An alcoholic from the age of 14’: Matthew Perry’s troubled life and foreshadowed death‘Chandler Bing,” wrote Matthew Perry in his puckish, self-mocking memoir, “changed the way that America spoke”. The actor’s bold words were true – but only up to a point. Yes, there was a period in the late 1990s when people overemphasised the verb to comic effect: “Could that be any more annoying?” But that was really more of a verbal tic. The Matthew Perry/Chandler Bing paradox was that he demanded not to be taken seriously, and in doing so, became the ego ideal of generation X, which is a pretty serious job. So even though he had – no question – the best lines in Friends, he was never what he would have been in an earlier era: the sidekick.So much of the plot structure rested on Chandler being the second string:
