PASADENA, Calif. – Between a dialect coach who told him to exaggerate the accent and recent experience in a London play that required him to loudly project his voice onstage, Matthew Perry was a little over-the-top when he began filming his role as Sen. Edward Kennedy in a new television miniseries.

“I sounded like Foghorn Leghorn,” he said Friday.

The former “Friends” star appears with Katie Holmes, who reprises her role as Jackie Kennedy in “The Kennedys — After Camelot,” which premieres April 2 on the Reelz channel.

Perry said playing Kennedy was the most challenging role of his career. “I took this job because it scared me,” he said.

Perry’s most recent sitcom, CBS’ remake of “The Odd Couple,” is not likely to return. He said he’s drawn to writing, which he expects to be a big part of his career moving forward. He wrote and starred in a play, “The End of Longing,” in London and he expects to bring it to New York.

He describes it as a dark comedy with emotional scenes.

“One time I went to my computer to see how many times I could write the f-word,” he said. “It was 138. Don’t bring your children, but please come.”