Matthew Perry reveals he was 'crushing badly' on THIS Friends co-star who rejected his advances

Matthew Perry initially wanted to be "more than Friends" with one of his Friends co-stars; Jennifer Aniston! While promoting his highly-awaited memoir titled Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing on Matthew Perry: The Diana Sawyer Interview, the Friends star touched upon his "serial crush" on Aniston. In his book, the 53-year-old actor recalled how he had met the 53-year-old actress much earlier than starring in the iconic sitcom together...

Matthew Perry's "Chain Crushes" on Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow

When Diane Sawyer quipped about Matthew Perry's "chain crushes" on his Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow, the 17 Again star stated as a matter of fact: "Well, how can you not have a crush on Jenny? And Courteney [Cox]? And Lisa [Kudrow]? So, it made it kind of difficult to go to work, because I had to pretend that I didn't have these..." When Diane pointed out how Matthew had written in Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing about himself wondering how long he can look at the gorgeous Jen: "Yes. I was like, 'Is three seconds too long? How long is…?' And then I write in the gratitude part [of the book] about her letting me do that."

Matthew Perry Recalls "Crushing Badly" on Jennifer Aniston and Getting Rejected by Her in Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing

In Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, via Entertainment Weekly, Matthew Perry recalled meeting Jennifer Aniston about three years before Friends, through mutual acquaintances: "I was immediately taken by her (how could I not be?) and liked her, and I got the sense she was intrigued, too — maybe it was going to be something. Back then I got two jobs in one day — one was Haywire, an America's Funniest Home Videos-type show, and the other was a sitcom. So I called Jennifer and I said, 'You're the first person I wanted to tell this to!'" This, Perry would realise, was a "bad idea" he would soon regret as he acknowledged how looking back, "it was clear that this made her think I liked her too much or in the wrong kind of way… and I only compounded the error by then asking her out."

As for Jennifer Aniston's answer to his advances: "She declined (which made it very difficult to actually go out with her), but said that she'd love to be friends with me, and I compounded the compound by blurting, 'We can't be friends!'"

Nevertheless, Jennifer Aniston's wish came true as she and Matthew Perry found themselves becoming friends once again with Matthew forced to reckon with his feelings: "Fairly early in the making of Friends I realized that I was still crushing badly on Jennifer Aniston. Our hellos and goodbyes became awkward. And then I'd ask myself, 'How long can I look at her? Is three seconds too long?'"

Eventually, time healed all "crush" wounds, as Matthew Perry penned how slowly, the "shadow" of his crush "disappeared in the hot glow of the show," as Friends' popularity skyrocketed: "That, and her deafening lack of interest."

We can't really blame Matthew Perry for trying to shoot his shot with Jennifer Aniston!

What do you have to say about Matthew Perry's shocking revelation about his big, fat Jennifer Aniston crush? Share your personal opinion with Pinkvilla in the comments section below.

Meanwhile, Matthew Perry's upcoming memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Things drops on November 1.

Jennifer Aniston & David Schwimmer's Mutual Crushes on Each Other

Interestingly, while Jennifer Aniston may not have had a crush on Matthew Perry, nevertheless, there was another Friends co-star that she really, really liked; David Schwimmer. During Friends: The Reunion, when James Corden asked the six cast members - Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer - if the cast members ever caught feelings for each other IRL, Schwimmer had surprisingly confessed, "The first season, we, I had a major crush on Jen," to which Aniston agreed, "It was reciprocated." David recalled, "At some point, we were both crushing hard on each other but it was like two ships passing because one of us was always in a relationship. And we never crossed that boundary."

"Honestly, I remember saying one time to David, 'It's going to be such a bummer if the first time you and I actually kiss is going to be on national television.' Sure enough, first time we kissed was in that coffee shop. We just channelled all of our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel," Jennifer concluded. As expected, Jenvid fans went into a social media frenzy over their OTP's shocking "crush" confessions.

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