Back when Friends was at the height of its popularity, making the jump from being a “TV actor” to a movie star was nowhere near as prevalent as it was today, something Matt LeBlanc discovered firsthand when his first-ever major leading role in a feature film couldn’t have gone any worse.
What makes it even more fascinating is that he beat out co-star Matthew Perry to land the gig, even if it proved to be a blessing in disguise. Following the actor’s tragic passing at the age of just 54, his life and times have been going viral as fans rush to pay tribute to the iconic Chandler Bing, but 1996’s sports comedy Ed stands out for entirely different reasons.
As LeBlanc revealed in the retrospective Friends ‘Til the End : The One With All Ten Years that initially aired shortly after the series finale in 2004, he and Perry were both in the running to co-star alongside the titular chimpanzee, and it’s stating the obvious to say who got the worst end of that particular deal.
“Well, speaking for myself, my first movie was with a monkey who played third baseman. I knew I had to choose a little more wisely. Matt Perry has a really funny story about that. I beat him out for that horrible movie. Hey, it was for kids. I saw little kids enjoy it with my own eyes, for whatever that’s worth.”
Ed would go on to land a six percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, earn a miserly $4 million at the box office against a reported budget of $24 million, and land five Razzie nominations including Worst New Star for LeBlanc, so Perry missing out proved to be hugely fortuitous.
