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‘Friends’ Star James Michael Tyler Reveals Stage 4 Prostate Cancer

“I’ve been dealing with that diagnosis for almost the past three years,” he told Today’s Craig Melvin.

The actor who played the coffee shop manager Gunther on Friends is undergoing chemotherapy for late-stage prostate cancer, he said during an appearance on the Today show Monday morning. James Michael Tyler, 59, said he was diagnosed with the disease at an annual checkup in 2018, but that it had already spread to his bones by the time it was discovered. He explained that a course of chemotherapy is now “aggressively” fighting the cancer, but that it may be too late. “I’ve been dealing with that diagnosis for almost the past three years,” he told Today’s Craig Melvin. “It’s Stage 4 [now]. Late stage cancer. So eventually, you know, it’s gonna probably get me.” Because of his illness, Tyler was not able to attend the Friends reunion that aired in May, but called in on Zoom. “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,” he said. “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, basically, 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.’”