Some actors are best known for the single role that they played. This is the situation Matt LeBlanc found himself in: he became famous for his role as Joey Tribbiani on Friends, which made him a star and made us fall in love with him thanks to his charming personality, hilarious antics, and his signature catchphrase, “How you doin’?” On the other hand, the actor went through some tough times when he wasn’t in front of the cameras. From the fact that he didn’t have enough money to treat his sick daughter to the fact that she was only 8 months old when she was diagnosed, everything about the situation was bad.
The story of Matt LeBlanc inspires us at Hiptoro to keep going when life gets hard, rise to the occasion when things are hard, and keep going until the day breaks and the sun shines again.
He never thought about becoming an actor when he was younger.
Matt LeBlanc wasn’t even slightly interested in acting when he was young. Most famous people, on the other hand, know from a young age that they want to work in the industry. His main interest was motorcycles, but he also knew how to do carpentry so he could make money for himself.
He dropped out of college in the middle of his second semester and went to New York to try his luck as a model, but he was told that he was too tall for that job. Because of this, he decided not to keep going to school. Still, he didn’t let the setback stop him, and while he was at an audition, he was able to sign a contract with an agent. After appearing in ads for well-known companies like Levi’s, Coca-Cola, Heinz, and Doritos, he decided to try to make a living as a TV actor.
The doors to F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Matt had parts in some TV shows, such as TV 101. He also appeared in several episodes of the TV show Married… with Children. But none of these gigs could give him the financial security he needed or the step up the ladder of fame he was looking for. Before Friends became popular, the actor had only $11 left in his bank account and was always doing whatever he could to make ends meet. For example, he used to fix his own teeth instead of going to the dentist because he couldn’t afford it.
Joey Tribbiani. The one who will always be popular.
On Friends: The Reunion, the show’s producers said that it was hard for them to choose between Louis Mandylor and Matt LeBlanc when it came time to cast Matt LeBlanc as Ross. The latter was added to the show in the end, but not in the way that was originally planned. This person was sometimes called Joey’s “twin brother.” Matt LeBlanc will be remembered forever because of the charm of his character on the TV show Friends, as well as his lack of common sense, his huge and kind heart, and his “ability” to speak French.
After that, he fell in love.
On May 6, 2004, the two people stopped being friends with each other. Matt had his first child the same year he got married to American actress Melissa McKnight. He had married her the year before. But, unfortunately, things didn’t turn out the way the happy couple had hoped. When their daughter was only eight months old, she started having seizures.
After F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
The time after the comedy show ended, Matt kept playing Joey in a spin-off with the same name as the original show. After the show was eventually canceled, he decided to stop working on television so he could spend more time with his daughter Marina. It was found that she had cortical dysplasia, a condition of the brain that makes it hard for the nervous system to work as it should.
Matt’s daughter always fell on her left side when she was crawling. This made Matt realize that she had a problem. When she was first diagnosed, they were told that the disease could even damage her vocal cords to the point where she couldn’t say a single word.
Departure from the television industry.
Matt and Melissa McKnight’s marriage was officially over in October 2006. He never spoke to the media again after that until 2011. “I didn’t feel like being funny, there was a lot going on in my personal life…. I don’t know if my marriage was doomed to fail, we had a great relationship before. Maybe it was my daughter’s illness. Maybe I lost myself, focusing too much on my work,” he stated in an interview.
“For years and years, I hardly left the house. I was burned out. I wanted to have no commitments and not be anywhere. And I was in a position to do that. Most actors call their agents and ask what they have for them. I called mine and told him to lose my number for a few years. It was a dark time. I almost had a nervous breakdown,” he told The Mirror.
He loved his daughter more than anything else.
LeBlanc moved to a ranch in California with his daughter, even though he and his ex-wife shared custody of the child after their divorce, and LeBlanc quit TV. “My daughter was diagnosed with a brain problem. It was a very dark period, but we were able to get through it — don’t they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?” he told The Mirror.
“I remember when she was born. From the moment I looked at her, I fell in love, and I had never felt that way before. I couldn’t believe it. I knew in that instant that nothing would stop me from loving her, even if she crashed my Ferrari.”
A happy ending to a very scary situation.
Marina has fully recovered from her illness, and these days she and her dad like to watch Friends together. When they are flipping through channels and an episode of the show comes on, the actor said, they stop what they are doing and watch the whole episode. “She loves to ask me questions like: ’Was that real? Did you really eat that? Did you eat it off the floor? That’s disgusting! You’re funny, Dad!’”.
What do you think about the actor’s life story we just discussed about?
