Following his recent passing, fans everywhere have been revisiting Matthew Perry‘s back catalogue in droves to try and help with the grief. As much as the actor didn’t want it to be the case regarding his legacy, for most people their first port of call will inevitably be Friends.
The 10-season sitcom notched plenty of esteemed guest stars throughout its legendary run on the small screen, but one of the greatest without a doubt was Bruce Willis‘ turn as Paul Stevens, but he would never have agreed to appear on the show in the first place had he not lost a box office bet to Perry.
As the erstwhile Chandler Bing revealed in his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, he placed a wager with the A-list action superstar on the success of The Whole Nine Yards. Perry was confident it would be a hit, but Willis wasn’t so sure.
“Bruce hadn’t been sure the film would work at all, and I’d bet him it would — if he lost, he had to do a guest spot on Friends.”
Of course, the crime comedy notched $106 million in ticket sales, spent three weeks reigning as the number one film in the United States, and spawned a sequel, but you already knew who came out on the losing end of the wager considering Willis’ scene-stealing stint in a trio of episodes in season 6, which saw him win a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series and vindicate Perry’s confidence.
