Friends reunion meme makes Matt LeBlanc everyone's favorite Irish uncle
"And you paid for them jeans like that ya did, with all them holes already in them?" Irish Twitter welcomes the avuncular actor into the family.
- Third place film critic, 2021 LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
That's Uncle Matt to you.
Could Matt LeBlanc be any more likable in Friends: The Reunion? Apparently not, if Matt as meme is any indication.
Now that Friends fans have had a few days to watch the HBO Max special, they've dubbed the actor who played Joey Tribbiani everyone's favorite uncle. Everyone's favorite Irish uncle, to be precise, as Irish Twitter has decided the 53-year-old teddy bear of a guy gives off serious Irish uncle vibes. Especially in one shot that shows him seated, arms crossed, legs stretched in front of him, and wearing a striped, button-down short-sleeved shirt and a relaxed smile.
Wrote one Twitter user from Ireland, "And you paid for them jeans like that ya did, with all them holes already in them?"
In another caption, Uncle Matt poses this question: "And who's this lad ye do be listenin ta, Post Mahone is it?"
‘And you paid for them jeans like that ya did, with all them holes already in them?’ pic.twitter.com/mpKFmuevfM
— spochadóir (@spochadoir) May 29, 2021
I enjoyed Matt Le Blanc’s “Da’ sitting on the couch during a quick stop at your grans” performance pic.twitter.com/29v2NjKnm0
— Richie Morgan (@WretchedMorgan) May 28, 2021
Matt LeBlanc looks like a minibus driver sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Westport on the Sunday morning after a stag weekend to ferry the lads back across the country pic.twitter.com/IFcV0yGBaM
— Damien Owens 🇮🇪 (@mrdamienowens) May 29, 2021
And they pay ye like? To write stories? I've a few yarns myself. If I tell you them you can write them down and sure we'll split the money. pic.twitter.com/0g46e3r29M
— Claire Allan (@ClaireAllan) May 29, 2021
Matt LeBlanc is 5 seconds away from slapping his knees and going “well we ought to make a move who’s ready to rock and roll” pic.twitter.com/WmAgtjjugX
— Saz (@sarahlostctrl) May 30, 2021
Who wore it best, #mattleblanc or my Dad??!! 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/KAzHyA1waH
— Triona Wynne (@TeeCunningham) May 29, 2021
The Matt-as-uncle meme comes across as a loving tribute to the avuncular actor, who delivers lingering hugs to his former castmates and channels genuine warmth and affection for them. In her roundup of the show's most memorable moments, my CNET colleague Gael Fashingbauer Cooper calls him "the hero of the reunion for keeping things light when they could get teary."
I just hope @Matt_LeBlanc sees the love on Irish Twitter for him these last 24 hours. Hilarious, but so warm too.
— Philip O'Connor (@philipoconnor) May 29, 2021
Never has a childhood of growing up in rural Ireland better prepared me for something more than it’s prepared me for this Matt LeBlanc being your uncle meme
— spochadóir (@spochadoir) May 29, 2021
Indeed, he's central to some of the show's most heartfelt moments, including one when LeBlanc and Matthew Perry plop down in side-by-side leather lounge chairs just like they did all those years ago like buds Joey and Chandler. "Aww, Matty, it's good to see you, man," Perry tells LeBlanc. The exchange has added poignancy given Perry has battled addiction and other health problems. It's good to see the old pals back together again.
But it's not just fans of the show enjoying Matt LeBlanc as meme.
"Never had nor do I have much time for Friends, but Matt Le Blanc as the stereotypical Irish oul lad with bootcut jeans, brown loafers and the shite Superdry shirt he got for Xmas five years ago is one of my favourite things of the last 15 months," one Twitter user wrote. Even the Dublin Airport got in on the fun.
Never had nor do I have much time for Friends but Matt Le Blanc as the stereotypical Irish oul lad with bootcut jeans, brown loafers and the shite Superdry shirt he got for Xmas 5 years ago is one of my favourite things of the last 15 months.
— Jamie Wall (@Jamwall7) May 29, 2021
Bloody fantastic stuff 😂 👏🏻
Jaysus, I have to get up at 4am to collect the daughter from up above @DublinAirport. (Secretly, he’s more excited than the time he was on the Just a Minute Quiz.) #mattleblanc pic.twitter.com/xFcdtHmrrz
— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) May 29, 2021
