How You Doin'?! Matt's Need For Friends

The star spills on love, family and his liking for speed

- Marc Baker

 He became a household name on Friends, earning himself a cool $1.4 million per episode by the end, but while Matt LeBlanc mourned the finish of the sitcom in 2004, he says life actually changed “for good” once it was over.

“Ten years with Friends was like a school,” the actor, 50, tells Woman’s Day. “There are only five other people on the planet who know what that was like to be a part of.

The farewell was emotional.

“I had quit smoking and on the last episode, I started smoking again. It was very sad. You like to think your career is always going to go upwards, but it was hard to imagine success beyond that. It was the closing of an amazing chapter in all our lives.”

However, after a decade as lovable Joey Tribbiani, Matt insists he was ready to step out of the limelight and enjoy a normal life. “After the show ended, I wanted to take a year off and just relax, but I had such a good time, I took another year. That was even better and I said, ‘Maybe one more,’ and it turned into five or six years.”