'Friends' Star Matt LeBlanc Is Being Praised For His 'Refreshing' Approach To Wealth After A Video Of Him Describing His Dream Life Went Viral
For context, 57-year-old Matt got his big break when he landed the role of Joey Tribbiani in the hit NBC sitcom back in 1994, which ran for 10 seasons before coming to an end in 2004, when Matt was 37. According to various reports, the six core cast members were paid $22,500 per episode during Season 1, and by the third season, this had jumped to $100,000.
By Season 9, the cast had apparently negotiated a salary of $1 million per episode — the largest-ever deal for a sitcom at the time. For reference, most seasons consisted of 24 episodes, with some as high as 25, and the final season just 18.
As if that wasn't enough, in 2018, Marketplace reported that the six actors were still earning an estimated $20 million a year through Friends reruns. This is because after Season 6, the cast started to receive 2% of the show's syndication profits each.
Then, in 2020, Variety reported the cast were paid $2.5 million each to take part in the 104-minute reunion documentary, which aired in 2021.
In the years since Friends ended, most of the stars remained in the limelight, with Jennifer Aniston arguably enjoying the most glittering career by starring in multiple movies before landing one of the leading roles in Apple TV's hit series The Morning Show. David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow have also maintained steady work both on and off screen, as did Matthew Perry before his tragic death in 2023.
Initially, Matt also followed this path, famously starring in a spin-off about his Friends character, Joey, between 2004 and 2006. He didn't appear onscreen again until 2011 when he landed a role in Episodes, and his last screen appearance was in June 2020 when his show, Man With A Plan, was canceled.
But before you feel too sorry for Matt's lack of TV work in recent years, you should probably know that it seems to be very intentional. Recently, somebody put together a compilation of some of Matt's TV interviews, which highlights how he has only had one main priority in life post- Friends, and that is to do nothing.
Speaking during a 2017 appearance on Conan, Matt told the host that he'd like to retire as soon as possible, saying: 'I think I would like to do not a fucking thing, that's what I would like to do. Just nothing, absolutely nothing, zero.'
TBS / Via youtube.com
'Any typical day; sleep as long as you want, or get up early — if you want. It's just not having to go somewhere or someone else telling you what you have to do,' Matt continued. 'Maybe you go to the gym, or not go to the gym. Maybe you have nine cups of coffee, or none.'
And Matt doubled down on this mindset during a 2018 appearance on the Scandinavian TV show Skavlan, where he said of his career: 'My plan was, I did 10 years of Friends, then two years of Joey, and then I said: 'Right, I'm gonna take a year off, I wanna take a year off and just relax.''
NRK / Via youtube.com
Chuckling to himself, Matt continued: 'I had such a good time, I said: 'I'm gonna take another one,' right? And then that one was even better, so I said: 'Maybe one more!' And then it turned into five or six years.'
'My favorite thing in the world to do, like my absolute favorite thing in the world, is to do nothing,' Matt continued. 'I'm great at it. I should be a professional nothing. Because it's so easy, there's no rules! What are you gonna do today? I'll tell you: Nothing, pretty simple.'
The TikTok combining these interviews has been viewed more than 1.2 million times so far, and has racked up 10s of thousands of likes and comments — with many admitting to respecting Matt's "refreshing" approach to being wealthy.
One popular comment reads: 'So refreshing seeing someone really not caring about chasing more and more fame. Just chilling with his friend's cheques rolling in.'
'I love that Matt Le Blanc knows he has had the fame, earned the money and now can enjoy it and does not still seek the limelight. We would all be the same if we had enough money,' somebody else echoed.
Another wrote: 'He's a rarity in that he is sated; his cup runneth over; he is CONTENT. No need for more fame, more money, more awards, more accolades. God love this man.'
One more added: 'Refreshing to see the exact opposite of all the hustle videos.'
Others admitted that they would do the exact same in his situation, with one writing: 'If I was told I could do 12 years of work and [be] a millionaire so I could nothing then hell yeah.'
'If I had the money Friends actors have - assuming they managed it well - you'd never see me again,' one more quipped, while somebody else wrote: 'Work for 12 years and be done with it sounds nice.'
Somebody else concluded: 'He is describing freedom.'
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