Before he found his love of acting, Matthew Perry harbored a serious passion for tennis. And he started young with plenty of ability. Perry was actually a talented young tennis player, and was even a nationally ranked junior player in Canada in the 1980s before acting was ever on his radar. While many people flock to Los Angeles every year to pursue their acting dreams, he actually moved there with hopes of becoming a professional tennis player. Perry initially lived with his mom in Canada, but made the move to the U.S. with his dad (an actor living in L.A.) as a teenager.
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However, those tennis dreams quickly came to a halt when he arrived in the golden state and saw his competition. “I was a very good tennis player in Ottawa, Canada — nationally ranked when I was, like, 13. Then I moved to Los Angeles when I was 15, and everyone in L.A. just killed me. I was pretty great in Canada. Not so much in Los Angeles,” Perry explained to Men’s Health in 2012, admitting his hand was somewhat forced when it came to his big career change. “It was insane. I realized I wouldn’t be playing tennis for a living, so I went for acting.”
