Matthew Perry had what almost every man in the 1990s dreamed of: chemistry with A-list actress Julia Roberts.
But it all came apart almost as soon as they got together back in 1996. And now, the former Friends sitcom star is opening up about what caused the quick split!
Related: Matthew Perry Spent HOW Many Millions On His Sobriety Journey?!
Of course, Perry has been in the headlines quite a bit lately with his new memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. That book was excerpted in the U.K. paper The Times over the weekend, as we’ve been covering. And now, another new excerpt lays out what happened when Perry and the Erin Brockovich star first got together!
For starters, the 53-year-old sitcom alum explained how the relationship came about early in 1996. It was then that Julia was offered a chance to star in a post-Super Bowl season two episode of Friends. But as the man who played Chandler Bing explained in the excerpt, she would only do so if she could be part of Perry’s on-air storyline:
“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 story line. Let me say that again — she would only do the show if she could be in my story line. (Was I having a good year or what?) But first, I had to woo her.”
Whoa!
So, Perry got to work. First, he sent three dozen roses to the Pretty Woman star in an attempt to pique her interest and get the ball rolling on the show — and the relationship. The 54-year-old movie star responded well to that, but needed more:
“Her reply was that if I adequately explained quantum physics to her, she’d agree to be on the show.”
LOLz! That’s so random! And so difficult!!
Perry explained in the excerpt how he used the next 24 hours to do whatever he could to learn about the subject:
“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.”
Just quantum physics, right? Not like it’s complicated or anything. LOLz! But from there, he was in!
Perry explained:
“Not only did Julia agree to do the show, but she also sent me a gift: bagels. Lots and lots of bagels. … I did let her in, both figuratively and literally, and a relationship began. We would already be a couple by the time we started filming the Friends Super Bowl episode.”
Unreal!!
Sadly, though, there’s a sad ending to this tale. In fact, just two months after Perry and Roberts first got together, he decided to end things with the Oscar winner.
Related: Sarah Paulson Claims Matthew Perry REFUSED To Kiss Her At ‘Makeout Party’!
The Studio 30 on the Sunset Strip alum explained how his own insecurities, rather than anything Julia did or didn’t do, were at fault for bringing down the relationship so quickly:
“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, unlovable. So instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts.”
Convinced Julia was “slumming it” by dating him, the West Wing alum added this poignant note about their split:
“I can’t begin to describe the look of confusion on her face.”
Oof…
Of course, much of Perry’s memoir deals with his life-threatening substance abuse issues and years-long difficult battles with addiction. So, clearly, the Roberts relationship stuff is a little more light-hearted than most of it. But still, insecurity like this is no joke! It sucks that he did not feel worthy. He was TOTALLY worthy!!!
Thoughts, Perezcious readers??
Share ’em down in the comments (below)…
[Image via Adriana M. Barraza/MEGA/WENN]
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