Yes, it's true, the old phrase "struggling actor" has been used way past its limit. But in some cases, it truly is the only way to express the plight of suffering screen-chasers. Such was the case with now-famous, successful and in-demand actor, Matthew Perry.

He definitely had his share of struggles in the actor-magnet land of L.A. before snagging the role-of-a-lifetime as Chandler Bing on NBC�s ultra-modern comedy, Friends.

At the fresh age of 15, Perry moved to the land of film and money to try his hand on-stage. Just before landing a short-lived stint as Tracy Gold's boyfriend in 1989 on the family-based sitcom Growing Pains, Perry captured the attention of the A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon director and won a small role alongside River Phoenix. Not bad for a one-year resident of the city of angels. But then things leveled off. Actually, then things tapered off.

Perry struggled through a series of weak sitcom attempts, using his ever-increasing free-time to pen his own sitcom with best friend and writing partner Andrew Hill Newman. In 1993, four long years after his Growing Pains numbed, the Perry/Newman script entitled Maxwell's House, which revolved around the travails of some twentysomething friends, caught the attention of NBC. Sound familiar?

Perry soon learned his script was up against a laugh-a-minute sitcom with a strikingly similar premise entitled Friends which, you needn't be reminded, won out.

"[Friends'] writers did a better job than I did," Perry told People magazine. So what better way to curb the disappointment than to shove his own manuscript aside and audition for the competition. Which is exactly what he did.

"The part of Chandler leapt off the page, shook my hand, and said 'This is you, man!'" Perry told People. NBC executives agreed. And, after three back-to-back days of auditions, Matthew Perry became picky, relationship-starved, one-liner king Chandler Bing.

So, since 1994, Mr. Perry has been anything but "struggling." Unless, of course, you consider adoring fans, an outrageous income and movie-script offers much of a struggle. "[Writer/Producer] Dean Devlin offered me Harry Connick Jr.'s part in Independence Day" Perry admitted to Entertainment Weekly. And, working in some Perry-style sarcasm about the irony of his chance-not-taken, he continued, "That was such a failure that turning it down didn't really bother me."

Instead, Perry got his first chance at big-screen stardom when he accepted the lead role opposite Mexican beauty Salma Hayek in the culture-clash romantic comedy Fools Rush In.

But he doesn't plan to stop there. Matthew has reportedly accepted a typically David Spade-held role opposite Chris Farley in the upcoming film, Edwards & Hunt. And, sources say, he plans to star in a Warner Bros. movie which he co-wrote entitled Imagining Emily. The Perry-penned film revolves around a man who falls in love with a grown-up version of his childhood imaginary friend.

So, it appears this once-struggling actor has definitely made his mark on Hollywood. News which doesn't surpris