Sarah Paulson recalls ‘awkward’ encounter with Friends star Matthew Perry at ‘make-out party’

‘There was a hat with names in it, and you were supposed to make out with whomever you pulled out of the hat,’ said actor

Actor Sarah Paulson has recalled an awkward encounter with Friends star Matthew Perry.

Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Paulson recalled a “make-out party” at the house of writer Gore Vidal, which she attended with Carrie Fisher.

“[Fisher] asked if I wanted to come to ‘Gore Vidal’s make-out party’,” she said. “It was Carrie’s idea to call it the make-out party. Shirley MacLaine was there, I think Queen Latifah was there – all these people were there. And I was obviously panicked because [I was] neurotic.

“I didn’t see anyone make out, but there was a hat with names in it, and you were supposed to make out with whomever you pulled out of the hat,” she continued. “And Matthew Perry pulled my name out of the hat, and then promptly left the room.

“I saw him, he was like, ‘I got you.’ And I was like, ‘Ah, well let’s kiss!’ He was like, ‘No.’ No he wasn’t… we knew each other a little bit through one of my very best friends, and so it was awkward.”

Paulson and Perry would later play romantic partners on the Aaron Sorkin series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

“I got my kiss,” she joked, referring to their later on-screen dalliance. “I got several kisses! And boy did he regret not taking me up at Gore Vidal’s make-out party.”