Matthew Perry’s favourite movie of all time
When it comes to sitcoms, it’s almost impossible to find one that can rival the global influence and impact of the popular American show Friends. Featuring a stellar cast and an ability to tap into universal experiences, the series managed to transcend cultural divides. They garnered one of the most massive fan bases in popular culture, and the comfort the show provided is still being felt to this day. One of the major reasons behind his success was the work of Matthew Perry, who immortalised himself through his portrayal of Chandler Bing.
Although the second half of his career was plagued by issues with substance abuse, his hilarious performances as Chandler are more than enough to secure his legacy as an all-time great in the history of television. Cited by many fans as one of the most influential characters in the comedy genre, Perry’s work on Friends remains a vital part of popular culture and continues to be celebrated by online meme communities.
In 2022, the Friends star decided to be forthcoming about his drug battle by penning a bestselling memoir titled Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. In addition to his harrowing accounts of addiction, the book also described his fond memories of watching his favourite movie of all time with his mother. While recalling one particular day that they spent together, Perry expressed his admiration for Woody Allen’s Annie Hall.
The actor wrote: “We had played games all day long—we even tried to play Monopoly, but it’s hard when there’s just two of you—and then as night fell, we found Annie Hall on our little TV and laughed our asses off at Woody Allen’s house under the roller coaster. (I didn’t get the sex and relationship jokes, but even at eight years old, I could understand the comedy of sneezing away $2,000 worth of some kind of white powder.) That is my absolute favourite childhood memory — sitting with my mom and watching that movie.”
Woody Allen’s 1977 comedy is undoubtedly among the greatest of its kind, starring the director alongside a magical performance by Diane Keaton. In his memoir, Perry explained that he had experienced a severe inability to derive pleasure from anything around him, and that feeling often reminded him of Annie Hall.
Perry added: “I didn’t know this at the time, of course, but if I was not in the act of searching for excitement, being excited, or drunk, I was incapable of enjoying anything. The fancy word for that is ‘anhedonia’, a word and feeling I would spend millions in therapy and treatment centres to discover and understand. Maybe that’s why I won tennis matches only when I was a set down and within points of losing. Maybe that’s why I did everything I did. Anhedonia, by the way, was the original working title of my favourite movie, the one my mother and I had enjoyed together, Annie Hall. Woody gets it. Woody gets me.”
Watch the famous opening monologue below.
