Matthew Perry's missing fingertip after freak accident & how Friends twisted it (2024)

Some Friends fans noticed Matthew Perry has a shorter middle finger due to an 'unfortunate door-shutting accident' - and the writers gave a cheeky wink to it with Chandler

During childhood, Matthew Perry was the victim of a horrific accident which left him permanently scarred.

But even the most die-hard of Friends fans may not have spotted what was missing from the actor, despite it being reasonably visible in most episodes of the hit show.

One devoted viewer admitted it took them over ten years of continuously watching episode after episode to realise there was something odd with his middle finger.

And if you hadn’t noticed it before then you certainly will now as it’s quite remarkable.

After spotting the digit in question, many assumed it was just slightly shorter than the rest, but Matthew is actually missing his fingertip.

After speculation arose over what happened, it emerged that Matthew lost part of his finger in “an unfortunate door-shutting accident in nursery school”.

When he was just three-years-old, the Chandler Bing actor got the middle finger on his right hand stuck in a door while it was violently slammed.

It can actually be noticed in numerous scenes on Friends - as closer observation shows it’s shorter than the two fingers either side.

While the injury has had little impact on his acting career, it has actually being referenced in the American sitcom.

Show writers decided to make a reference to Matthew’s real-life injury by twisting it with his character.

The writers seemingly made a cheeky wink to Matthew’s missing finger by having Chandler lose on of his toes.

In the season 5 episode ‘The One with All the Thanksgivings’, a flashback to 1988 shows Monica wanting to humiliate Chandler for calling her “fat” the year before.

To get revenge she wants to trick Chandler into taking his clothes off by awkwardly trying to seduce him by rubbing various objects against her skin.

Worryingly this also includes a knife, but things go horribly wrong when she accidentally drops it and severs Chandler’s toe.

Things get even worse when Chandler is rushed to hospital but can’t have his toe attached because Monica inadvertently mixed it up with a baby carrot.

Chandler is furious after discovering the real reason he lost his toe and storms off, but Monica is forgiven after dressing the turkey up in a fez and sunglasses.

Matthew hasn’t openly spoken about his missing fingertip, but has shown it to the cameras before.

He also made a joke about his fingers in June 2019 amid claims he was looking dishevelled during a rare outing in New York City.

The Friends star was spotted wandering around in baggy sportswear, sporting a scruffy beard and long fingernails.

Seeing the funny side, Matthew took to Twitter to respond to suggestions that he looked unkempt as his fans jumped to his defence.

He joked about an impending grooming session to his followers, tweeting: "I’m getting a manicure this morning. That’s okay right? I mean it says man right in the word."

Matthew has opened up on his struggles since the show ended, admitting he was a "sick guy" during a candid sit down chat with ABC News in 2013.

His personal life was very different to that of his character as he was battle drink and drug addiction off-camera.

Admitting he even tried to hide his struggle from his Friends co-stars, Matthew admitted: "Mostly it was drinking, you know, and opiates.

"I think I was pretty good at hiding it but, you know, eventually people were aware."

Matthew opened a sober living home for addicts to come to terms with the transition from rehab back to real life in Malibu, California, which he named Perry House.

In 2018, the actor spent three months recovering in hospital after having abdominal surgery to repair a gastrointestinal perforation.

There has been some recent concern for his wellbeing after he was spotted looking very different to his usual self in July last year.

The 52-year-old was spotted out in Beverly Hills looking exhausted as he puffed on a cigarette with a face mask resting round his chin before leaning on a wall and looking down at the floor.

Some Friends were concerned over his slurred speech in the promo for the Friends reunion, but the actor insisted it was down to emergency dental work.