Actor James Michael Tyler, best-known as the sarcastic Central Perk employee on Friends, was on the Today show this morning and revealed his struggle with stage-4 prostate cancer.
The 59-year-old, sometimes with tears in his eyes, discussed how he was diagnosed three years ago after a routine blood test and that the disease had spread to his bones. He said, "It's stage 4 (now). Late-stage cancer. So eventually, you know, it's gonna probably get me." Tyler made a brief appearance, via Zoom, on the Friends reunion that aired on HBO Max in late May. He said he wanted to be there in person with everyone else, but "I didn't wanna bring a downer on it, you know? ... I didn't want to be like, 'Oh, and by the way, Gunther has cancer.'"
Tyler says his focus right now is on chemotherapy and encouraging people to get screened early. He says, "That's my only reason for coming out like this and letting people know. That's my new role." (NBC News)