matt leblanc

With an estimated net worth of $85 million, Friends star Matt LeBlanc has the kind of monetary success many dream of, but very few actually have. And yet, people are calling how he’s chosen to live with his windfall “refreshingly” down to earth and relatable.

At the height of Friends fame, LeBlanc (along with his coasters) famously made an unprecedented $1 million per episode. And let’s not forget the estimated $20 million a year the cast earned through reruns of the hit sitcom.

While LeBlanc did go off to lead in the Joey spin-off for two years—as well as appearing in Episodes, and starring in the now cancelled Man With A Plan—he didn’t seem to be quite as busy as the other Friends stars. But perhaps this was by design.

Recently the TikTok account Outstanding Screenplays shared a now viral compilation video of a few of LeBlanc’s interviews throughout the years, in which he shares his love of “doing nothing.” For instance, in the clip from his 2017 appearance on Conan, he explained that he actually wanted to retire “earlier rather than later” fo the simple reason that “I think I would like to do not a fucking thing, that’s what I would like to do. Just nothing, absolutely nothing, zero.”

And just what does “nothing “ look like, according to LeBlanc? It looks like “sleeping as long as you want,” or “getting up as early as you want” any given day, not having “to be somewhere” or have “someone else telling you what to do,” having the choice to “go to the gym or not go to the gym,” and of “having nine cups of coffee or none.” In a nutshell: no rules.

As one viewer astutely noted, “he is describing freedom.”

Similarly, in a later interview on a Scandinavian TV show called Skavlan, expounded upon how he got this impulse.

“My plan was, I did 10 years of Friends, then two years of Joey, and then I said: ‘Right, I’m gonna take a year off, I wanna take a year off and just relax. I had such a good time I said ‘I’m gonna take another one,’ right? And then that one was even better. So I said ‘maybe one more,’ and then it turned into five or six years.”

After realizing that his "favorite thing to do in the world is nothing,” LeBlanc has pretty much been doing just that. God bless him.

One might think that this video, which has been viewed about 1.2million times, had the potential of stirring up some unsavory feelings, as even those among who can afford to retire likely will not do it in the style that LeBlanc does. But by and large people came into the comments to commend him for lifestyle choice.

“If I had his money I would do exactly the same," one of the top comments read.

“Nothingers unite!” exclaimed another.

What people really seemed to resonate with was the fact that his take is very counterintuitive to how celebrities often react to success. As one viewer put it, “So refreshing seeing someone really not caring about chasing more and more fame.”

Another person echoed, “I love that Matt LeBlanc knows he has had the fame, earned the money and now can enjoy it and does not still seek the limelight.”

There’s a lot to be said about how hard it is for this clearly common dream to come to fruition, but for now, let’s just take stock that collectively, in our heart of hearts, we all long for peace and freedom. Much of the other stuff is kind of arbitrary.