Morgan Fairchild once faced a major career warning before taking a role on Friends. On the popular TV comedy, the actress starred as Nora Bing, the mother of Matthew Perry’s Chandler Bing. Looking back, Fairchild says she knew the role could change how Hollywood viewed her.
Morgan Fairchild recalls the career warning she received before joining ‘Friends’
Fairchild recently discussed the role on Lifestyle With Roy. She recalled that Cicely Tyson warned her about playing a young character’s mother. “Oh, Morgan, you’re too young to be that guy’s mother,” Tyson told her. Tyson also warned that the role could change Fairchild’s future casting.
Fairchild decided to take the chance anyway. “You gotta make this transition at some time,” she recalled thinking. Friends was not yet a huge success, but Fairchild knew it had potential. She said she liked the actors individually and thought they worked well as an ensemble.
The actress also recalled her first encounter with Perry. During a July interview with PEOPLE, Fairchild said she did not realize she had met him before filming Friends. Perry approached her and reminded her that he had visited the sets of Flamingo Road and Falcon Crest with his father. His father, John Bennett Perry, played a recurring sheriff on both shows.
Fairchild said the memory changed the way she viewed playing Nora. “Oh my God, you were that kid?” she recalled saying to Perry. She had wondered if she could play the mother of an adult character, but seeing Perry again helped her make sense of the role. Perry had spent time around her on those earlier sets when he was younger.
Friends went on to become a huge hit and aired for 10 seasons on NBC. Fairchild’s Nora Bing became part of Chandler’s story on the popular sitcom. Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023, from the acute effects of ketamine. Fairchild’s decision to take the role ultimately became another memorable chapter in her long television career.
