The One With Matthew Perry's Missing Fingertip: How 'Friends' worked into actor's freak accident
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Creating an illusion is a significant goal of movies and television shows, whether tricking viewers into thinking characters are on far-off planets or placing them in peril. Following a motorcycle accident, professional wrestler Kerry Von Erich became famous for competing with a prosthetic foot, a fact that spectators were generally unaware of. However, Von Erich is not the only television celebrity who has dealt with a limb discrepancy.
The right middle finger of Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing in 'Friends', is partially amputated. Reportedly, the actor lost it after his finger was unintentionally smashed into a car door as a child.
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Here’s how Matthew Perry almost missed out on Chandler Bing's role in 'Friends'
'The one with all the Thanksgivings'
Many fans had already discovered Perry's middle finger was shorter than usual by the time he was playing Chandler Bing in 'Friends.' According to The Mirror, the 'Friends' creators chose to write a unique episode in the fifth season as a subtle reference to Perry's childhood injuries. In the episode 'The One with All the Thanksgivings,' a flashback scene depicts Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Perry) arguing. As a result of Monica's unintentional knife drop, Chandler's toe was partially severed.
Even worse, after Chandler is brought to the hospital, his toe cannot be reattached because Monica accidentally messed it up with a baby carrot. After learning the true cause of why he lost his toe, Chandler is outraged and storms off, but Monica wins him over by dressing the turkey in a fez and sunglasses. The episode serves as a humorous allusion to Perry's real-life injury for viewers and the entire talk that Perry's middle finger was noticeably shorter than usual.
What happened to Matthew Perry's fingertip?
Perry talked about an accident he suffered as a child when there was a discussion about what happened to his finger. Perry slammed a door on his hand when he was three years old in nursery school. He avoided going into detail about what might be described as a terrible incident, but it was probably not a pretty sight. While it might not be immediately apparent, his middle finger is not the same length as usual and only has the top inch of its fingertip severed.
Fortunately, his acting career hasn't been significantly impacted by the injuries and the American sitcom does make mention of it. One ardent 'Friends' fan claimed it took them more than 10 years of non-stop viewing to notice there was something peculiar about his middle finger. Many people who saw the finger in question thought it was only a little shorter than the others, but Chandler's fingertip is actually gone.
Perry has previously displayed his missing fingertip to the cameras, though he hasn't publicly discussed it. In June 2019, he also made a joke about his fingertips in response to allegations that he appeared unclean during a rare outing in New York City. The former 'Friends' star was seen walking around in baggy clothing, sporting a scruffy beard, and having long fingernails.
