A Hollywood dinner party in the late ’90s turned into a surprising setup for Sex & The City’s actress and Friends star Matthew Perry, who was already one of the biggest names on television at the time.
Kristin Davis was set up to date Matthew Perry
On the August 18 episode of her Are You a Charlotte? podcast, Sex and the City alum Kristin Davis revealed that she was introduced to Matthew Perry through a lawyer friend. The setup happened at a casual dinner gathering, right in the middle of Perry’s Friends’ success.
“It was between Melrose Place, which I did before City,” Davis recalled. “ At a house. It was a dinner party. It was so low-key.” Despite being surrounded by other Hollywood names, Davis remembered only two people clearly: the lawyer and Perry. “Matthew’s lovely,” she said. “He sits next to me and he’s talking about how thrilled he is, how happy they are on the set at Friends.”
Though sparks didn’t fly, Perry’s excitement about his show stood out to Davis, especially compared to the tense environment she had experienced on Melrose Place. “There were 15 series regulars. Everyone had the feeling they might get cut, so it was that competitive and stressy,” she explained.
Not long after, Davis landed her career-defining role as Charlotte York in HBO’s Sex and the City, which premiered in 1998. Alongside Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kim Cattrall, she was part of one of TV’s most iconic ensembles. She later reprised the role in two films and the spinoff series And Just Like That, which ended earlier this month after three seasons.
While the role made her a household name, Davis has often said that the fame complicated her personal life. On the other hand, Perry, who died in 2023 at the age of 54, is widely known among fans for his role as Chandler Bing on Friends.
