Salma Hayek Honors Her 'Fools Rush In' Co-Star Matthew Perry

— Archive Photos/Moviepix/Getty Images
In the days following Matthew Perry’s death on Oct. 28, several of his co-stars have paid tribute by sharing touching memories of the actor. Salma Hayek, who played Perry’s love interest in 1997’s Fools Rush In, joined them with her own Oct. 30 memorial.

“Two days ago, I woke up to the shocking news that Matthew Perry is no longer with us. It’s taken me a couple of days to process this profound sadness,” Hayek began her Instagram post. “There is a special bond that happens when you share dreams with someone, and together you work towards them.”

In a carousel of three slides, she included a screenshot of Perry’s 2022 Instagram Story in which he called Fools Rush In “probably my best movie,” noting she “was very moved” by his statement.

“Throughout the years, he and I found ourselves reminiscing about that meaningful time in our lives with a deep sense of nostalgia and gratitude,” she added. “My friend, you are gone much too soon, but I will continue to cherish your silliness, your perseverance, and your lovely heart. Farewell, sweet Matthew, we will never forget you.”

In the 1997 rom-com, Perry played Alex Whitman, a project manager who has a one-night stand with Hayek’s Isabel Fuentes while overseeing the construction of a Las Vegas nightclub. Months later, Isabel shows up pregnant with their child, kicking off an unexpected romance and blending of families and cultures.

A Chandler Connection

In his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry revisited their time working together, including how Hayek tried to help him become more of a “leading man than a funny sitcom actor.” Spoiler alert: It didn’t go as planned.

“She came into my trailer at the start of the shoot and said, ‘Let's just spoon a little bit,’” Perry wrote, per Entertainment Weekly. “I did my best Chandler impression — the double-take-and-sardonic-stare thing — and said, ‘Oh, OK! Let's just spoon a little bit!’”

— Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc/Getty ImagesOnce shooting began, Perry recalled Hayek always having a “very elaborate and lengthy idea” about how to tackle certain scenes, but “her long-winded ideas weren't always helpful.” In one moment, when Alex professes his love for Isabel, he remembers her suggestion that they don’t look at each other, but “should look at our future together, instead.”

“After listening to this nonsense for about twenty minutes, I finally said: ‘Listen, Salma,’ I said, ‘I’m telling you I love you in this scene. You look wherever you want, but I’m going to be looking at you,’” Perry explained.

Fools Rush In Producer Paid Tribute

The part of Alex — Perry’s first big-screen movie role — was based on producer Doug Draizin’s life. In an Oct. 30 interview with The New York Post, Draizin shared that he was at a UCLA football game with his son, who informed him Perry died. “The irony of it is [that] my son is the reason we made Fools Rush In. It was about his birth. That’s the reason how this movie organically got made,” he told the paper.

— New York Daily News Archive/New York Daily News/Getty ImagesRecalling their time working on the movie, Draizin added that Perry “loved having people come around” and was friendly and genuine to everyone on set.

He also said that Perry and his father, John Bennett Perry, who also played his onscreen dad in Fools Rush In, “had such a reunion on the set” and were able to spend quality time together. “Having his father there and working together ... I know it really made him proud,” Daizin added.

Draizin still has a Fools Rush In poster, featuring Perry and Hayek on his wall. He said, “Now, when I look at it, instead of elation, I feel sadness.”