Lisa Kudrow revealed she recently discovered a hidden gift from Matthew Perry — a note from her late friend and co-star that was left for her in an iconic “Friends” prop.
Appearing on an episode of “The Drew Barrymore Show” that aired Tuesday, Kudrow said Perry gave the “Cookie Time” cookie jar to her on the final day of filming for the 10-season sitcom.
Asked whether she’d stolen anything from the set, Kudrow admitted: “Yes, but I’m too afraid to tell you what. I’m too — I can’t say. I’m afraid. Someone will come take it away, take it away from me.”
Barrymore joked: “I don’t know why. I just got that it was the Cookie Time jar.”
Kudrow clarified, “No, Matthew gave that to me at the end of our last episode,” referring to the notable prop that Perry had taken from the set.
“I had recently found the note that he had in it for me,” Kudrow told Barrymore. “I hadn’t opened it up or looked inside of it, but yeah, he did. He had a note in there, and I forgot about it.”
Though Kudrow, the star of “No Good Deed,” did not reveal the contents of the note, the discovery brought back fond memories of her time with Perry. Kudrow recounted the inside joke behind the gift, a moment born after filming a scene for “Friends.” She shared the story on a 2020 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
“My line was ‘Ohhh, I’m late. I better get going,’ and it was too late when I realized I don’t have a watch,” she told Kimmel. “As the words were coming out, I went, ‘Oh good, there’s a clock,’ and I gestured to that and said, ‘Oh, look at the time. I better get going.’”
Perry approached her afterward and asked, “Did you point to the cookie jar and say, ‘Look at the time’?”
The playful moment encapsulates the humor and camaraderie that defined their time on the show, which Kudrow said she will always remember after Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023, as a result of the acute effects of ketamine.
Kudrow paid tribute to Perry on Instagram in Nov. 2023:
“Thank you for making me laugh so hard at something you said, that my muscles ached, and tears poured down my face EVERY DAY. Thank you for your open heart in a six way relationship that required compromise. And a lot of ‘talking.'”
Kudrow’s rediscovery of the note underscores the deep bond shared by the cast. And while the cookie jar may have been stolen straight from the “Friends” set, Perry’s regifting of it to Kudrow may make it one of the most thoughtful stolen goods in TV history.
Reflecting on her discovery, Kudrow told Barrymore, “Timing is everything.”