WASHINGTON: James Michael Tyler, who starred as Gunther on ‘Friends’, shared that he was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer and he can no longer walk because of it.
According to Variety, during an interview with a news outlet, Tyler, who played Jennifer Aniston’s coffee shop manager Gunther on ‘Friends’, shared that he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in September 2018 after a routine physical. Tyler said, “I was 56 years old at the time, and they screen for PSA, which is a prostate-specific antigen. That came back at an extraordinarily high number. So, I knew immediately when I went online and I saw the results of my blood test and blood work that there was obviously something quite wrong there.
He further, nearly immediately, my doctor called me and said, “Hey, I need you to come in tomorrow because I suspect that you may have quite a serious problem with your prostate.’”
Tyler was recently seen on the HBO Max special ‘Friends: The Reunion’. While several other characters from the show stopped by to say hello to the core cast in person, Tyler appeared via video conference.
Talking about his experience, he said, “I wanted to be a part of that, and initially I was going to be on the stage, at least, with them, and be able to take part in all the festivities. It was bittersweet, honestly. I was very happy to be included. It was my decision not to be a part of that physically and make an appearance on Zoom because 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’.” The actor is undergoing chemotherapy and is urging men to get early screenings to battle it.