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7 Revelations From Matthew Perry’s Memoir ‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing’

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing

The book currently on the cusp of taking the world by storm, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing , began on the Notes app on Matthew Perry ’s phone. That’s where the Friends star started laying out his life story, as he told The New York Times  recently .

And eventually, those tapped-out notes coalesced into a memoir, the proposal for which impressed Megan Lynch, senior vice president at Flatiron Books.“There was a real voice to it,” Lynch said to the Times . “It was clear that he was going to share intimate details not just about his time on the show but about his entire life, and that felt revelatory.”

Flatiron is releasing the book on Tuesday, November 1, and already-published excerpts from the book are revelatory indeed. Perry writes at length about his time on Friends — and about his romantic relationships over the years — but much of the book is devoted to the drug and alcohol addictions from which the actor is now recovering.

Here are some of the anecdotes Perry shared about Friends , lovers, and “the big terrible thing.”

At one point, he was using methadone and Xanax and drank a quart of vodka a day.

In Diane Sawyer ’s recent interview with Perry , she mentioned that he wrote in Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing that he was using methadone and Xanax and going through “a full quart of vodka a day.”

“Fifty-five Vicodin a day,” the actor added, saying that at one point he fell into a coma and “escaped death really narrowly.”

Jennifer Aniston confronted him about his drinking.

Perry wrote in the book, per Us Weekly , that it was Friends costar Jennifer Aniston who talked to him about his alcohol consumption, something that other stars of the NBC sitcom noticed, too.

“‘I know you’re drinking,’ she said. … I was confused. ‘How can you tell?’ I said. I never worked drunk,” Perry remembered. “‘We can smell it,’ she said, in a kind of weird but loving way, and the plural ‘we’ hit me like a sledgehammer.”

He was sober for Friends ’ ninth season.

According to The Hollywood Reporter , Perry recounted in the memoir that he was living at a rehab facility in Malibu when the Friends cast and crew shot the Season 7 finale, and he was sober through Season 9, the only season for which the actor earned an Emmy nomination for best actor. “What did I do differently that season? I listened,” he wrote. “I didn’t just stand there and wait my turn to speak.”

He had to pull out of a role in Don’t Look Up after his heart stopped for five minutes.

Perry disclosed in the book that he had a part in the 2021 movie Don’t Look Up , which would have been the “biggest movie [he’d] gotten ever,” as Rolling Stone reports. He was meant to play a Republican journalist and was booked for three scenes with Meryl Streep , who played the President of the United States in the political satire.

Around the time of filming, however, Perry was staying at a rehab facility in Switzerland, where doctors prescribed him hydrocodone after he claimed to have stomach pain. The doctors also decided to treat the pain by putting “some kind of weird medical device” in his back. Perry spent the night before that operation taking hydrocodone pills, and the next morning, when doctors administered the anesthetic drug propofol in the operating room, Perry’s heart stopped.

“I was given the shot at 11:00 a.m.,” he wrote. “I woke up eleven hours later in a different hospital. Apparently, the propofol had stopped my heart. For five minutes. It wasn’t a heart attack — I didn’t flatline — but nothing had been beating. I was told that some beefy Swiss guy really didn’t want the guy from Friends dying on his table and did CPR on me for the full five minutes, beating and pounding my chest. If I hadn’t been on Friends , would he have stopped at three minutes? Did Friends save my life again? … He may have saved my life, but he also broke eight of my ribs.”

Amid the pain of the recovery from that medical crisis, Perry made the “heartbreaking” call to back out of Don’t Look Up , having only shot one scene which didn’t make it into the final cut.

He and Valerie Bertinelli made out next to her husband, Eddie Van Halen.

At one point in the book, Perry discusses his crush on Bertinelli, with whom he starred in the short-lived CBS sitcom Sydney in 1990. “I fell madly in love with Valerie Bertinelli , who was clearly in a troubled marriage,” he revealed, per Entertainment Weekly . “My crush was crushing; not only was she way out of my league, but she was also married to one of the most famous rock stars on the planet, Eddie Van Halen.”

And one night at their home, Perry said, he made out with Bertinelli after Van Halen got drunk on wine and passed out. “This was my chance! If you think I didn’t actually have a chance in hell, you’d be wrong, dear reader — Valerie and I had a long, elaborate makeout session,” he wrote.

The next morning, according to Perry, Bertinelli acted as if nothing happened between the two of them. “I quickly got the hint and also played the role I was supposed to, but inside I was devastated,” the actor wrote.

Seemingly in response to that revelation, Bertinelli posted a TikTok video to the tune of the Taylor Swift song “Anti-Hero” — specifically the lyrics, “It’s me, hi. I’m the problem, it’s me.”

“Anyone misbehave in their 20s and early 30s?” she captioned the clip. “Are you mortified?”

He wrote a physics paper to get Julia Roberts on Friends — and he tanked their real-life romance.

Perry was the one who sealed the deal for Julia Roberts to appear in the 1996 Friends episode “The One After the Superbowl: Part 2.”

“Julia had been offered the post-Super Bowl episode in Season 2 and she would only do the show if she could be in my storyline,” he wrote, per The Times (via Entertainment Weekly ). “Let me say that again — she would only do the show if she could be in my storyline. (Was I having a good year or what?) But first, I had to woo her.”

As Perry recalled in the book, he sent the Pretty Woman star three dozen roses, along with a romantic note, but Roberts responded with a homework assignment: “Her reply was that if I adequately explained quantum physics to her, she’d agree to be on the show,” he wrote. “Wow. First of all, I’m in an exchange with the woman for whom lipstick was invented, and now I have to hit the books.”

So Perry did his homework and got Roberts on the show, and by the time she filmed her Friends  appearance, she and he had already flirted via fax machine and struck up a romantic relationship. But Perry broke up with her after two months, he revealed in the book.

“Dating Julia Roberts had been too much for me,” he said. “I had been constantly certain that she was going to break up with me. Why would she not? I was not enough; I could never be enough; I was broken, bent, unloveable. So instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts. She might have considered herself slumming it with a TV guy, and the TV guy was now breaking up with her. I can’t begin to describe the look of confusion on her face.”

He went on a date with Cameron Diaz, and she accidentally punched him in the face.

Per Page Six , Perry wrote that he had a date with Cameron Diaz at a dinner party after her 2007 split from Justin Timberlake  and that she “immediately got stoned” at the get-together and “wasn’t interested in [Perry] at all.”

Then, Perry made a “witty” comment to Diaz during a game of Pictionary, and she “accidentally” punched him in the face while aiming for his shoulder, he said. (His response: “Are you f—king kidding me?”)

Perry doesn’t know why Keanu Reeves “still walks among us” after the deaths of other actors.

How Well Has 'Friends' Aged? The Sitcom's Cast & Critics Disagree

Perry seemingly has an issue with Keanu Reeves , comparing him unfavorably in the book to late actors River Phoenix and Heath Ledger . “Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?” he wrote, per BuzzFeed News .

The actor mentioned Reeves again in the book as he wrote about the death of Chris Farley : “I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves walks among us .”

In a statement to People , Perry apologized for the apparent diss: “I’m actually a big fan of Keanu,” he said. “I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.”

Don't Look Up where to stream

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Don't Look Up

Cameron diaz, jennifer aniston, julia roberts, keanu reeves, matthew perry, valerie bertinelli.

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Matthew Perry: Seven of the biggest revelations from star’s book Friends, Lovers and Big Terrible Things

‘friends, lovers and the big terrible thing’ was released one year before his death, article bookmarked.

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Friends star Matthew Perry has died at the age of 54 , with many now revisiting the memoir he released almost exactly a year before his death.

The star, adored for his portrayal of king of sarcasm Chandler Bing in Friends , was found dead in his Los Angeles home on Saturday 28 October.

Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing came out on 1 November 2022, and in it, Perry wrote about his famous past relationships and his time on the hit sitcom that made him famous around the world.

However, Perry also explored his widely publicised addiction to alcohol and painkillers, which resulted in him visiting rehab 15 times over his lifetime, and having a number of near-death experiences.

Here are seven of the biggest revelations from Perry’s memoir…

His relationship with Julia Roberts

Perry’s six-month relationship with “beautiful and brilliant” Julia Roberts , who he’d met before her guest appearance on season two of Friends , is explored in the book.

Perry described how the pair would send “hundreds” of faxes and have five-hour phone calls before they began dating.

Reflecting on their split in April 1996, Perry wrote: “Dating Julia Roberts had been too much for me. I had been constantly certain that she was going to break up with me.

“So instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts.”

Reflecting on his past relationships , Perry said he’d broken up with all the “wonderful women” he’d dated because he was “deathly afraid that they will find out that I’m not enough… and they’ll break up with me”.

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His drug taking during Friends

Addiction plays a large part in Perry’s memoir, with the actor writing that at his worst moment, he would take 55 strong painkillers a day to get through filming.

Perry wrote that fans of the show will be able to tell whether he was drinking alcohol or taking drugs “from season to season” by “gauging” his weight and tracking his facial hair throughout the show.

“When I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills; when I have a goatee, it’s a lot of pills,” he said.

Perry said that he used to “steal” pills from open houses , saying: “I think they thought, ‘Well, there’s no way that Chandler came in and stole from us.’”

He entered treatment while filming the later seasons of the show and describes being picked up from filming the season seven finale , in which Chandler and Monica (Courteney Cox) get married, to return to rehab.

However, Perry added that he “never” was high or drunk during filming.

Jennifer Aniston confronted him about his addiction

At the height of his addiction, Perry’s Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston was the one to confront him about his problem .

“‘I know you’re drinking,’” Perry recalled Aniston telling him. “To be confronted by Jennifer Aniston was devastating. And I was confused. ‘How can you tell?’ I said. I never worked drunk. ‘I’ve been trying to hide it.’

“‘We can smell it,’ she said, in a kind of weird but loving way, and the plural ‘we’ hit me like a sledgehammer,” Perry wrote.

His bizarre comments about Keanu Reeves

One surprise takeaway from Perry’s autobiography was his apparent feelings towards Keanu Reeves, after Perry repeatedly questioned why other actors die while The Matrix star is still alive .

“Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?” Perry wrote.

Upon learning that another former co-star Chris Farley had died of a drug overdose, he wrote: “I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves walks among us.”

However, Perry later apologised for the comments , saying in a statement: “I’m actually a big fan of Keanu. I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologise. I should have used my own name instead.”

His near-death experiences

Perry’s drug use continued after Friends , with the actor explaining that he “nearly died” four years ago when he was 49 .

Perry’s colon burst due to opioid overuse, after which he spent two weeks in a coma, five months in a hospital, and nine months using a colostomy bag. His family were told he had a “two per cent” chance of living.

A couple of years later, Perry came close to death again after his heart stopped beating for five minutes .

Perry was in rehab in Switzerland at the time, but had lied to his doctors about having severe stomach pain in order to get prescribed hydrocodone, an opioid used to treat pain and as a cough suppressant.

Perry was due to have surgery to alleviate his pain, but he took hydrocodone the night before his surgery, which, combined with anaesthetic propofol during the procedure, stopped his heart for five minutes.

“It wasn’t a heart attack – I didn’t flatline – but nothing had been beating,” he said, explaining how eight of his ribs broke during CPR.

As a result, he was forced to pull out of appearing in Adam McKay’s Netflix film Don’t Look Up , despite having already filmed a scene.

His kiss with Valerie Bertinelli

Another one of Perry’s crushes was on former child star Valerie Bertinelli, who played his sister on the 1990s sitcom Sydney .

Perry recalled the pair once having a “long, elaborate make-out session” while her then-husband Eddie Van Halen was passed out less than 10 feet away from them.

However, the next day at work, Bertinelli “made no mention of what had happened and was behaving – as she should have been – like this was just a normal day”, leaving Perry “devastated”.

Bertinelli responded to the claims on TikTok in a Taylor Swift-inspired video in which she admitted she was “mortified”.

His crush on Jennifer Aniston

One unexpected revelation in Perry’s memoir is that he had asked out Aniston before filming Friends .

The actor explained how he and Aniston were the only Friends stars who knew each other before the show, having met three years before through mutual acquaintances.

“I was immediately taken by her (how could I not be?) and liked her, and I got the sense she was intrigued too – maybe it was going to be something,” he said.

However, when Perry asked her out, “she declined (which made it very difficult to actually go out with her), but said that she’d love to be friends with me, and I compounded the compound by blurting, ‘We can’t be friends!’”

Perry added that he was “still crushing badly” on Aniston during the early stages of filming Friends .

If you or someone you know is suffering from alcohol addiction, you can confidentially call the national alcohol helpline Drinkline on 0300 123 1110 or visit the NHS website here for information about the programmes available to you.

If you or someone you know is suffering from drug addiction, you can seek confidential help and support 24-7 from Frank, by calling 0300 123 6600, texting 82111, sending an email or visiting their website here .

In the US, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP.

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Matthew Perry Made Weird Comments About Jen Aniston In His Book & It’s Ruined Friends For Me

Celebrity Memoir Bookclub , an excellent podcast that dissects the memoirs of celebrities, pointed out on TikTok that Perry’s behaviour towards Aniston was low-key slimey.

In one passage, he recounts asking Aniston out then when she declined and said she just wanted to be friends, he responded: “Well now we can’t be friends.”

@celebritymemoirbookclub #matthewperry #jenniferaniston ♬ original sound – Celebritymemoirbookclubpodcast

In another part, he discusses the “awkward” experience of working with Aniston after she rejected him.

He creepily recalls staring at her for multiple seconds at a time. I’m sure that created a pleasant working environment for her.

He also recounts punching a hole through her dressing room wall after finding out that Chris Farley had passed away.

@celebritymemoirbookclub Replying to @celebritymemoirbookclub #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Celebritymemoirbookclubpodcast

There’s a part where he discusses why Friends came to an end and he pretty much puts the blame on Jennifer Aniston.

“The truth was we were all ready for Friends to be done,” he wrote.

“For a start, Jennifer Aniston had decided that she didn’t want to do the show anymore and since we all made decisions as a group, that meant we all had to stop. Jennifer wanted to do movies.”

He also mentioned how when he got off drugs, his appearance had improved. But he sarcastically states he was “still not good enough for Jennifer Aniston.” Wow, this guy is really fucking obsessed.

At the end of the book, there’s a gratitude list of things he’s thankful for.

Included on the list is “Jenny for letting me look at that face an extra two seconds everyday.”

So… that’s all this woman is to you? Just a pretty face?

As a long-time Friends fan, I always looked at the gang as genuine mates on screen and IRL, but knowing that Matthew Perry has been holding a grudge against Jennifer Aniston for refusing his advances is weird and gross.

No fucking wonder she wanted the show to end if her colleague was staring at her and harbouring resentments.

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The biggest revelations from Matthew Perry's memoir, published one year before his death

Update: On Oct. 28, 2023, it was confirmed that Matthew Perry died at age 54 after an apparent drowning . In November 2022, the actor — known for his role as Chandler Bing in "Friends" — published his memoir, entitled "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” TODAY.com unpacked the details found within its pages after the book's publication. Read the original post as it first ran below.

Matthew Perry is letting it all out.

In his new memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” out Nov. 1, the actor gets candid about some of the moments that have shaped his career and personal life, including his battle with addiction and living under the spotlight. 

Perry spent years making the world laugh through his role on “ Friends” as Chandler Bing — but, as the memoir shows, he was struggling behind the scenes.

After decades of managing the highs and lows of his career while living with the “big terrible thing” he calls addiction, Perry is publicly reflecting back on his life.

Here are some major revelations Perry shares in the tell-all, from romantic relationships (and almost relationships) with fellow celebrities to behind-the-scenes memories from "Friends."

He was in a coma after his colon erupted

The actor opens up his book by recalling his near death experience in 2019 after his colon burst as a result of opioid overuse. 

At the hospital, Perry underwent emergency surgery for seven hours. His family was told he had a two percent chance of making it through the night. “I will have to live out the rest of my days knowing that my mother and others heard those words,” Perry writes.

Although Perry survived the night, the actor reveals he landed in a two week-long coma, followed by a five month hospitalization. He had to use a colostomy bag for nine months. 

“I had realized that my greatest fear had come true, which is that I did this to myself,” Perry said. 

Since then, Perry said he has undergone 14 more surgeries.  

He has spent upward $7 million trying to get sober

Perry says his journey with addiction has been both arduous and costly. According to the actor's memoir, he has spent upward $7 million trying to get sober and has been to rehab 15 times (in an interview with the New York Times , Perry said the number was more like $9 million).

“I’ve been in a mental institution, gone to therapy twice a week for thirty years, been to death’s door,” Perry writes. 

This does not include the money and time he has spent as a result of his actions while battling alcohol and drug abuse. The actor recalls consuming drugs and a quart of vodka a day on the set of "Serving Sara," a 2002 film.

“Every day I would show up to set, pass out in my chair, wake up to do a scene, stumble to set, then just basically scream into a camera for two minutes,” Perry writes. 

Eventually, Perry went away for rehab which later meant paying $650,000 for temporarily shutting down production and re-recording most of his lines in the movie. "Small price to save my life," he writes.

“I needed to make real amends … so I recorded my slurred parts for the entire movie, which meant I looped the entire movie,” Perry writes. “Then I committed to doing the most press possible in the history of press, bending over backward to make things right.”

He almost didn’t play Chandler on 'Friends'

Could picturing a world where Chandler was not played by Matthew Perry, be any more impossible? Well, the actor reveals this was almost the case.

At the time when auditions for “Friends,” originally titled “Friends Like Us,” were happening, Matthew Perry was under contract with another show called “L.A.X 2194.”

“I was devastated,” Perry writes. “When I read the script for “Friends Like Us” it was as if someone had followed me around for a year … I was Chandler.”

Eventually, after “L.A.X. 2194” wasn’t picked up for a season, Perry was allowed to audition. 

And as we know, the rest is history.

He and ex-girlfriend Julia Roberts flirted over fax

Perry had a short-lived and very public romance with Julia Roberts in 1995. “She was the biggest movie star in the world, and I was on the number one show on TV," he said.

"Friends" co-creator Marta Kauffman initially asked Perry to reach out in an attempt to convince Roberts to appear on the show's post Super Bowl episode. The two then began corresponding over fax.

“Three or four times a day I would sit by my fax machine and watch the piece of paper slowly revealing her next missive,” Perry writes. “It was like she was placed on this planet to make the world smile, and now, in particular, me.”

Roberts agreed to be on the episode. Despite their on and off air chemistry, the romance came to an end after Perry called it quits.

“I was not enough; I could never be enough; I was broken, bent, unloveable,” Perry writes. “So instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts.”

He watched Roberts win an Oscar for her role in “Erin Brockovich” from his room at rehab.

“I was incredibly happy for her,” he writes. “As for me, I was just grateful to have made it one more day.”

He crushed on co-star Valerie Bertinelli and other A-listers

In 1990, four years before "Friends" premiered, Perry starred on a CBS sitcom called "Sydney" with Valerie Bertinelli. Perry, then 19, had a crush on Bertinelli, then 30, who was married to Eddie Van Halen at the time.

“I was completely captivated,” Perry writes. “I mean, I was obsessed with her and harbored elaborate fantasies about her leaving Eddie Van Halen and living out the rest of her days with me.”

And one day, his dreams (almost) came true. Perry says he and Bertinelli had a "long, elaborate make-out session" while her husband, Eddie Van Halen, was passed out just feet away from them. 

The next day at work, Perry said Bertinelli was business as usual, not acknowledging the prior night's antics.

“I quickly got the hint and also played the role I was supposed to, but inside I was devastated,” he said, adding that Bertinelli had “done nothing wrong.”

Bertinelli was not Perry's only celebrity make-out at the time. Perry also says he kissed a young and still fairly unknown Gwyneth Paltrow in a broom cupboard while in Williamstown, Mass. 

He asked “Friends” co-star Jennifer Aniston out three years before they crossed paths again on the sitcom. Aniston declined but ironically asked to remain friends. 

“Fortunately, even though I was still attracted to her and thought she was so great, that first day we were able to sail right past the past and focus on the fact that we had both gotten the best job Hollywood had to offer,” Perry writes.

He was living in rehab when Monica and Chandler got married on 'Friends'

In the book, Perry says Season Nine of the show was the only season of "Friends" he filmed while fully sober (he mentions that he received his only Emmy nomination for that season).

Perry says he thought he was keeping his addiction a secret from his cast-mates until Aniston came to his dressing room one day and told him everyone could smell alcohol on him.

Perry eventually had a sober companion with him on set, then left to live in a detox center .

“I married Monica and got driven back to the treatment center — at the height of my highest point in “Friends,” the highest point in my career, the iconic moment on the iconic show — in a pickup truck helmed by a sober technician,” Perry writes.

He struggled after 'Friends' came to an end

Perry said that when “Friends” came to an end, he "felt nothing ."

"I couldn’t tell if that was because of the opioid buprenorphine I was taking, or if I was just generally dead inside," Perry writes. 

He recalls waking up the morning after the finale was filmed, thinking about what he was going to do next. 

“With no ridiculously high paying, dream-come-true kind of job to go to, and no special someone in my life, things slipped fast,” Perry writes. “In fact, it was like falling off a cliff.”

Things looked promising for him for a while until he agreed to film a sequel for the box office smash “The Whole Nine Yards,” titled “The Whole Ten Yards.” 

Unlike the 2000 classic, the sequel bombed at the box office. 

“That was the moment Hollywood decided to no longer invite Mr. Perry to be in movies,” Perry writes. 

This led to Perry seeking more dramatic roles, and was eventually offered the lead in “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” While the show initially did well, it was ultimately canceled after one season.

Despite this setback, Perry began working on writing his own projects. “Mr. Sunshine” premiered in 2011, but was canceled after one season. This was followed by “Go On,” which was also quickly canceled. 

“I wasn’t devastated by the lack of success — as I said, I knew a hit TV show couldn’t fill my soul,” he writes.

He was meant to star alongside Meryl Streep in 'Don’t Look Up'

Perry’s opportunity to star in more serious dramatic roles, appeared in 2020 when director Adam McKay approached him about a role in Netflix’s “Don’t Look Up.” He was to play a journalist and have three scenes alongside Meryl Streep.

“This would be the biggest movie I’d gotten ever,” Perry writes. 

However, around this time, Perry had been at a rehab facility in Switzerland, where doctors planned to surgically insert a medical device in his back to help with his stomach pain from previous surgeries. He was given propofol during the surgery, which Perry said stopped his heart for five minutes. 

They proceeded to conduct CPR on Perry, during which eight of his ribs were broken. The pain of this injury caused him to drop out of the film. 

“Being in 'Don’t Look Up' didn’t work out because my life was on fire, but I learned an important lesson: I was hirable in something big without putting on a show,” Perry writes. 

Cameron Diaz once accidentally punched him

Perry reveals he once got set up on a date with Cameron Diaz following her split from Justin Timberlake. 

During the dinner party, Perry writes that "it was clear Diaz was interested in (him) at all," after she "got almost instantly stoned."

The night led to the group playing a game of Pictionary. After saying something witty to Diaz, she went to punch him in the shoulder but accidentally landed the punch on his face. 

He is learning how to overcome 'the big terrible thing'

Perry says that his therapist helped him quit drugs by telling him to associate them with the possibility of having to wear a colostomy bag "for the rest of (his) life." 

“I have not been interested in taking a drug since,” he writes, later adding, "I've surrendered, but to the winning side, not the losing. I'm not longer mired in an impossible battle with drugs and alcohol. I no longer feel the need to automatically light up a cigarette to go with my morning coffee."

Perry ends the book thanking his friends and family, and naming the "one thing (he) got right."

"I never gave up, I never raised my hands and said, ‘That’s enough, I can’t take it anymore, you win,” Perry writes. “And because of that, I stand tall now, ready for what comes next.”

Read more about Matthew Perry

• Matthew Perry apologizes for line in memoir about Keanu Reeves
• Here's why Matthew Perry doesn't think his 'Friends' costars will read his memoir
• Matthew Perry recalls 'scary' confrontation with Jennifer Aniston: 'She was the one'

Anahy Diaz is a Platforms NBC Page at  TODAY.com , where she contributes to the management of newsletters and main cover stories. Anahy is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso with a B.A. in Multimedia Journalism.

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Matthew Perry recounts how Jennifer Aniston confronted him about his substance abuse

'Matthew Perry - The Diane Sawyer Interview' premieres Friday, Oct. 28, at 8|7c on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.

Matthew Perry is continuing to share candid moments from his long journey to sobriety and the struggles he endured during his run on NBC's "Friends" while yoyo-ing between addictions to Vicodin and alcohol.

In an excerpt from his new book "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," Perry recounts how a visit from costar Jennifer Aniston to his trailer made him realize that his secret behavior when it came to alcohol wasn't so secret.

"'I know you're drinking,' she said," Perry, now 53, writes in the memoir, in an excerpt published by the Times of London.

"I had long since gotten over her -- ever since she started dating Brad Pitt, I was fine -- and had worked out exactly how long to look at her without it being awkward, but still, to be confronted by Jennifer Aniston was devastating. And I was confused," he continued.

"'How can you tell?' I said. I never worked drunk. 'I've been trying to hide it . . .'"

ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer has an exclusive broadcast interview with Perry ahead of his book release. During the one-hour special, airing Friday on ABC, he shares details from behind the scenes of "Friends" and about a near-death experience that left him in a coma for nearly 14 days.

"Imagine how scary a moment that was," he told Sawyer. " [ Aniston ] was the one who reached out the most, and I"m really grateful to her for that."

Elsewhere in the excerpt, Perry mentioned how he "never" worked high or drunk (although he "certainly worked hungover"), and he said he was largely able to function as part of the uber-successful "Friends" ensemble thanks to his castmates and how they would "group around [ him ] and prop [ him ] up" like an injured penguin being supported by the other penguins.

"I was the injured penguin, but I was determined to not let these wonderful people, and this show, down," he wrote.

But that day in Perry's trailer, Aniston told him plainly that he wasn't getting away with anything.

"'We can smell it,' she said, in a kind of weird but loving way, and the plural 'we' hit me like a sledgehammer," Perry wrote.

"'I know I'm drinking too much,' I said, 'but I don't exactly know what to do about it.'"

The "Whole Nine Yards" star also describes in the new book how his weight fluctuated wildly due to the pills making him sick and alleviating his appetite, or alcohol causing him to be bloated.

"You can track the trajectory of my addiction if you gauge my weight from season to season -- when I'm carrying weight, it's alcohol; when I'm skinny, it's pills. When I have a goatee, it's lots of pills."

Perry even referenced specific points in the hit show's 10-season run and clued readers in to what was going on with his addiction at that time.

"By the end of season three, I was spending most of my time figuring out how to get 55 Vicodin a day -- I had to have 55 every day, otherwise I'd get so sick. It was a full-time job: making calls, seeing doctors, faking migraines, finding crooked nurses who would give me what I needed," Perry wrote.

The actor recently said he is finally ready to share his experiences now that he is safely on the other side of addiction.

"I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again," Perry told People of the book. "I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober -- and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction -- to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people."

"Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," by Matthew Perry, will be published by Headline on November 1.

"Matthew Perry - The Diane Sawyer Interview" premieres Friday, Oct. 28, at 8|7c on ABC. Stream the next day on Hulu.

ABC Owned TV Stations contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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The One Where Matthew Perry Writes an Addiction Memoir

In “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” the actor gets serious about sobriety, mortality, colostomy bags and pickleball.

By the time he was 49, Matthew Perry writes in his new book, he had spent more than half of his life in treatment centers or sober living facilities. Credit... Michelle Groskopf for The New York Times

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By Elisabeth Egan

• Published Oct. 23, 2022 Updated June 20, 2023

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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — When I pictured Matthew Perry, the actor frequently known as Chandler Bing, I saw him on the tangerine couch at Central Perk or seated on one of the twin recliners in the apartment he shared with Joey Tribbiani.

In September, after arriving at his 6,300-square-foot rental house and being ushered through a driveway gate by his sober companion, I sat across from Perry, who perched on a white couch in a white living room, a world away from “Friends,” the NBC sitcom that aired for 10 seasons and catapulted all six of its stars into fame, fortune and infinite memes. Instead of the foosball table where Chandler, Joey, Monica, Phoebe, Rachel and Ross gathered, nudging each other through the first chapters of adulthood, Perry, 53, had a red felt pool table that looked untouched. There was plenty of light in the house, but not a lot of warmth.

I have watched every episode of “Friends” three times — in prime time, on VHS and on Netflix — but I’m not sure I would have recognized Perry if I’d seen him on the street. If he was an ebullient terrier in those 1990s-era Must See TV days — as memorable for his full-body comedy as he was for the inflection that made “Can you BE any more [insert adjective]” the new “Gag me with a spoon” — he now seemed more like an apprehensive bulldog, with the forehead furrows to match.

As his former co-star Lisa Kudrow confesses in the foreword to his memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” the first question people ask about “Friends” is often “How’s Matthew Perry doing?”

Perry answers that question in the book, which Flatiron will publish on Nov. 1, by starkly chronicling his decades-long cage match with drinking and drug use. His addiction led to a medical odyssey in 2018 that included pneumonia, an exploded colon, a brief stint on life support, two weeks in a coma, nine months with a colostomy bag, more than a dozen stomach surgeries, and the realization that, by the time he was 49, he had spent more than half of his life in treatment centers or sober living facilities.

Most of this is covered in the prologue. At one point, he writes in a parenthetical, “Please note: for the next few paragraphs, this book will be a biography rather than a memoir because I was no longer there.”

The book is full of painful revelations, including one about short-lived, alcohol-induced erectile dysfunction, and another in which Perry describes carrying his top teeth to the dentist in a baggie in his jeans pocket. (He bit into a slice of peanut butter toast and they fell out, he writes: “Yes, all of them.”)

Quietly and then, as he relaxed, at a volume that allowed me to stop worrying about my recording device, Perry settled into the conversation about his substance abuse. It started with Budweiser and Andrès Baby Duck wine when he was 14, then ballooned to include vodka by the quart, Vicodin, Xanax and OxyContin. He drew the line at heroin, a choice he credits with saving his life.

“I would fake back injuries. I would fake migraine headaches. I had eight doctors going at the same time,” Perry said. “I would wake up and have to get 55 Vicodin that day, and figure out how to do it. When you’re a drug addict, it’s all math. I go to this place, and I need to take three. And then I go to this place, and I’m going to take five because I’m going to be there longer. It’s exhausting but you have to do it or you get very, very sick. I wasn’t doing it to feel high or to feel good. I certainly wasn’t a partyer; I just wanted to sit on my couch, take five Vicodin and watch a movie. That was heaven for me. It no longer is.”

Perry said he had been clean for 18 months, which means that he was newly drug- and alcohol-free when the “Friends” reunion aired in May 2021.

“I’ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober,” he estimated.

Most addicts don’t have Perry’s resources. But they have what he called “the gift of anonymity,” while his bleakest moments have been photographed, chronicled and occasionally mocked. For the record, Perry isn’t a huge fan of secrecy as it pertains to Alcoholics Anonymous, where he sponsors three members. He explained: “It suggests that there’s a stigma and that we have to hide. This is not a popular opinion, by the way.”

Perry’s demeanor brightened when we talked about pickleball, his latest obsession. He built a court at the house he’s moving into in the Palisades. He plays with friends and hired pros. He said, “I thought it would be a good idea, to pump myself up, to play pickleball before this interview, but basically I’m about to fall asleep in your lap.”

So what inspired him to write a book?

After his extended stay in a Los Angeles hospital, Perry started tapping out his life story on the Notes app on his phone. When he hit 110 pages, he showed them to his manager, who told him to keep going. He worked at his dining room table for about two hours a day, no more: “It was hard to face all this stuff.”

Perry has written for television (“The Odd Couple,” “Mr. Sunshine”) before but, “writing a book I had not really thought of before,” he said. “Whenever I bumped into something that I didn’t really want to share, I would think of the people that I would be helping, and it would keep me going.”

Over the course of the next hour, Perry returned to the idea of helping fellow addicts 15 times. The dedication at the front of the book reads: “For all of the sufferers out there. You know who you are.”

He said: “It’s still a day-to-day process of getting better. Every day. It doesn’t end because I did this.”

The memoir came together without a ghostwriter, which is rare for household-name authors. Megan Lynch, the senior vice president and publisher at Flatiron, said of the proposal she read last year: “There was a real voice to it. It was clear that he was going to share intimate details not just about his time on the show but about his entire life, and that felt revelatory. I’m not working on an assembly line of books by celebrities and it’s something as an editor I want to be very choosy about. For me, this really rose to a level that I do not ordinarily see.”

Lynch, who watched “Friends” when she was 14 and credits it with providing a vision for a future life in New York City, added, “Unlike any celebrity that I think anyone has ever worked with, Matthew turned in his manuscript ahead of the deadline.”

Although Perry hopes that “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing” will eventually be shelved in the self-help section of bookstores, “Friends” fans will find poignant nuggets in its pages. Perry writes gratefully and glowingly of the 10 seasons he and his co-stars worked together, earning $1 million per episode at their peak.

He recalls the time Jennifer Aniston came to his trailer and said, “in a kind of weird but loving way,” that the group knew he was drinking again. “‘We can smell it,’” she said — and, he writes, “the plural ‘we’ hits me like a sledgehammer.” Another time, the cast confronted him in his dressing room.

Perry also drops a sad bombshell about his onscreen wedding: “I married Monica and got driven back to the treatment center — at the height of my highest point in ‘Friends,’ the highest point in my career, the iconic moment on the iconic show — in a pickup truck helmed by a sober technician.”

In a phone interview, Kudrow said: “It’s a hideous disease, and he has a tough version of it. What’s not changing is his will to keep going, keep fighting and keep living.”

She added: “I love Matthew a lot. We’re part of a family. I’m basically ending this with ‘I’ll be there for you’ [the ‘Friends’ theme song], but it’s true. I’ll always be there for him.”

Perry’s childhood friends Christopher and Brian Murray echoed this sentiment. “He’s gone through more than any human being I know and he’s come out on the good side of it,” said Brian, the older of the two brothers who have known Perry since first grade. Riding bikes around their rural corner of Ottawa, the trio would belt out the theme song from “The Rockford Files” and rib one another in the cadence that Perry later immortalized on “Friends.”

“A lot of it was tough to understand,” Christopher said. “You wouldn’t wish that on anybody. Fundamentally, his personality and his heart are absolutely in the same place they were when he was a kid.”

Failed relationships were among the hardest things to write about, Perry said (“I’m lonely, but there’s a couple of people on the payroll to keep me safe”), though he hopes to marry and have children in the future. “I think I’d be a great father,” he said.

Eighteen years after “Friends” aired its last episode, Perry is tickled by its staying power, and its popularity among the children of its original viewers. “There are 15-year-old people wandering around, seeing me and wondering why I look so old,” he said.

When I mentioned I’d seen a young woman in my hotel gym wearing a “Friends” sweatshirt — you rarely see merch from, say, “E.R.,” which capped off NBC’s Thursday night lineup in the ’90s — he laughed. “You should set me up with that girl,” he said. “Just say, I know this guy, he’s as single as they come.”

Perry’s candid, darkly funny book now earns him an honorary folding chair — and shelf space — beside David Carr , Caroline Knapp , Leslie Jamison , Nic Sheff , Sarah Hepola and other authors who have explored the minute-to-minute, tooth-and-nail skirmish of recovery.

“There is a hell,” Perry writes. “Don’t let anyone tell you different. I’ve been there; it exists; end of discussion.”

He said, “Now I feel better because it’s out. It’s out on a piece of paper. The ‘why’ I’m still alive is definitely in the area of helping people.”

Audio produced by Tally Abecassis .

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Matthew Perry said Jennifer Aniston reached out to him 'the most' during his opioid addiction battle

• Matthew Perry said Jennifer Aniston reached out "the most" during his opioid addiction battle.
• He also said his "Friends" costar once confronted him and said: "We know you're drinking."
• Perry, 54, died Saturday from an apparent drowning at his California home.

On Saturday,  outlets reported that Perry died at his Los Angeles home from an apparent drowning. He was 54. 

Per  the Los Angeles Times , authorities responded to Perry's home around 4 p.m. Sources who spoke to the outlet on the condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation didn't cite a cause of death, said no drugs were found at the scene, and indicated no foul play was suspected. 

Prior to his death, Perry shared details about his life and his addiction to alcohol and opioids in his November 2022 memoir, " Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing ."

Related stories

During an October 2022 interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer , Perry shared that at some point, he took "55 Vicodin a day" plus "Methadone, Xanax, a full quart of vodka a day," Sawyer says in the clip.

He told Sawyer there was one friend who provided continuous support throughout the journey, his "Friends" costar Jennifer Aniston. Perry played the character Chandler Bing on the NBC sitcom from 1994 to 2004.

"She was the one who reached out the most," Perry said of Aniston, 54, whom he referred to in the interview as "Jenny." "I'm really grateful to her for that," he added. 

In a different clip from the interview, Sawyer — referencing Perry's book — said Aniston once confronted him about his addiction, telling him: "We know you're drinking."

"Imagine how scary a moment that was," Perry said. 

The actor's journey to recovery had other scary moments, including the time when he said he almost died after his colon burst from his opioid use .

As Insider previously reported, the actor revealed the near-death experience, which happened when he was 49, in his memoir. At the time of the incident, Perry did not disclose the cause of the perforation to the media.

Privately, he said he was given a "2% chance to live" by his doctors. "I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that's called a Hail Mary. No one survives that," he said. 

Perry said he was  in a coma for two weeks and was in hospital for five months. He had to use a colostomy bag for nine months. 

When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more .

• Main content

Matthew Perry had a crush on a Friends co-star — but she turned him down!

He made the stunning revelation in his new memoir.

Matthew Perry isn't holding anything back in his new memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing . The actor is opening up about his struggle with opioid and alcohol addiction, his romances with some of Hollywood's biggest names, and he's even naming the ones that got away.

MORE:  Matthew Perry dishes on Julia Roberts romance – and reveals why he broke up with her 

In the book, which is released on Tuesday, November 1, the Friends alum, 53, reveals that he had a big crush on his costar Jennifer Aniston — both before and during the shooting of the beloved sitcom.

Matthew Perry 'really grateful' for Jennifer Aniston's friendship during height of addiction

Matthew writes that he met Jennifer, 53, before they were cast on Friends and he was "immediately taken" with her, according to a report published by the New York Post's Page Six on Wednesday.

MORE:  Matthew Perry shares rare glimpse into family life with unexpected photo   

READ:  Matthew Perry makes shocking allegation against Hollywood actress

The Whole Nine Yards actor remembered calling Jennifer at one point and trying to impress her with the news that he'd booked two roles.

Jennifer and Matthew shared an onscreen kiss on the Season 3 episode "The One With the Flashback"

"It was clear that this made her think I liked her too much, or in the wrong kind of way," he writes in the book. But he asked her out, anyway — and she turned him down and suggested that they just be friends. His response: "[We] can't be friends!"

"They were understanding, and they were patient," Matthew told People of his Friends castmates' support

After they were cast on the NBC show and sat down for their first table read, Matthew writes that he still had a crush on Jen, but they "were able to sail right past the past and focus on the fact that we had both gotten the best job Hollywood had to offer."

He continued to harbor those romantic feelings as the show became a smash hit, but Matthew eventually moved on because of her "deafening lack of interest."

The Odd Couple star writes that by 1998, four years into Friends ' run, he had "gotten over her" and figured out how to interact with Jen, who was by now dating Brad Pitt , "without it being awkward."

Matthew's friendship with Jen deepened through the run of the show and he admitted in an interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer that's set to air on Friday, that the Morning Show star confronted him over his substance abuse during their time on Friends and said, "We know you're drinking."

RELATED:  Where are the kids from Friends now? You won't believe how much they've grown!

"Imagine how scary a moment that was," he admitted. "She was the one who reached out the most, you know. I'm really grateful to her for that."

Matthew wasn't the only cast member with a crush on Jen. During the Friends 2021 reunion , David Schwimmer , who played her on-screen love interest, Ross Geller, admitted that he had romantic feelings towards her — and Jen revealed that she'd felt the same way about him!

"I mean, the first season, I had a major crush on Jen. At some point, we were crushing hard on each other," David 55, revealed. "But it was like two ships passing, because one of us was always in a relationship and we never crossed that boundary."

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Jennifer Aniston reportedly worried Brad Pitt marriage details will be exposed in Matthew Perry’s book

By diana nosa | feb 24, 2022.

Though Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt’s marriage was an iconic moment in Hollywood history, for the  Friends  actress, the partnership was likely one of the most tumultuous experiences in her life.

Initially, the marriage was built on a rather firm foundation. The two celebs were totally in love and wanted to devote themselves to one another for a lifetime. However, when public scrutiny followed wherever they went and rumors of infidelity began interfering with their partnership, Aniston and Pitt decided to call their marriage quits after seven years.

To this day, the nitty-gritty details of why these two celebrities split aren’t very well-known by anyone except for those who were close to Jennifer Aniston or Brad Pitt, hence why, with Matthew Perry’s new tell-all book on the way, Aniston is allegedly starting to get a little nervous.

Jennifer Aniston ‘anxious’ about Matthew Perry’s book

According to the Mirror , Jennifer Aniston knows that Matthew Perry wants to be painfully vulnerable, so much so, that his closest friend’s deepest secrets might be fair-game to discuss in his autobiography,   Friends, Lovers ,  and   the Big Terrible Thing .

A source expressed to the media outlet:

"He hasn’t suggested that the book will include private details about anyone else, but Jen knows Matthew will want a bestseller and, to achieve that, he’ll need to expose as many juicy secrets as possible. And being privy to one of the most high-profile showbiz splits in history, he knows that will be something everyone will want to know about."

Of course, Matthew Perry isn’t exposing secrets to be malicious. Rather, he wants to be completely transparent with his experiences and how other people’s experiences may have contributed to his struggles .

“He’ll delve into his addictions, of course, plus clear up rumors about his feelings for the  Friends  costars,”  an insider revealed to US Weekly  about the book. “It wasn’t always a bed of roses for Matthew on and off the Friends set, and Matt isn’t going to sugarcoat the tougher times that he went through with the cast. He’ll also discuss what it was like at the [ Friends ] reunion, both good and bad.”

Additionally, the source reports that Perry will disclose the details of his own failed relationships, which lets us know that he may be choosing to be fair in what and who he exposes, especially if he’s willing to expose himself.

Even still, Perry’s unconditional transparency could spell disaster for Jennifer Aniston if he decides to go in-depth about being a witness to her fallout with Brad Pitt. And with Aniston and Perry having allegedly grown more distant over the past couple of years, it’s possible he may not adhere to her wishes. Nevertheless, only time will tell what Matthew Perry’s upcoming novel will entail.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Next. Courteney Cox opens up on her cosmetic injections that made her look ‘really strange’. dark

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‘Kind of weird but loving’: the intense bond between Friends stars that made Matthew Perry $30m

From making a statement about Perry’s death as ‘a family’ to taking pay cuts to support co-stars, the relationship between the sitcom’s cast changed their lives – and the industry

W hen Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer broke their silence over the death of their Friends co-star Matthew Perry, it was as a group. Their joint statement was a short and eloquent message that pulsed with their palpable grief, in which they chose to share their pain collectively as “a family”, rallying around each other over this “unfathomable loss” of someone so special to them.

Putting on a united front is something that has always been one of the Friends cast’s main strengths. Perry highlighted this in his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, last year when he spoke about how Schwimmer, who at the time was considered the breakout star of the show, approached his castmates with the idea that they should negotiate their salaries as a group rather than individually.

The actors had reportedly been paid $22,500 per episode in season one, but by season two, Schwimmer and Aniston had begun earning more than the other four actors as the popularity of on/off couple Ross and Rachel took off. For season three, Schwimmer decided it was time to club together and asked Aniston if she would be willing to take a pay cut, along with him, so the others could get equal pay.

Collective cast negotiations over salaries weren’t really the norm then but the strategy has been copied since by actors on shows such as The Big Bang Theory and This Is Us. It was a selfless act of generosity that Perry applauded Schwimmer for in his memoir. “David had certainly been in a position to go for the most money, and he didn’t,” he wrote. “I would like to think that I would have made the same move, but as a greedy 25-year-old, I’m not sure I would have. But his decision served to make us take care of each other through what turned out to be a myriad of stressful network negotiations, and it gave us a tremendous amount of power.”

By season eight in 2001, he revealed, they were making $1m (£818,240) an episode – an amount that Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman called “kinda ridiculous” at the 2015 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour. “Let’s be honest, that’s a lot of money.” (Commenting on the sum in an interview for Huffington Post , LeBlanc said: “How do you put a price on how funny something is?”) By season 10, they were making $1,100,040 an episode, Perry revealed, and doing fewer episodes. “We had David’s goodness, and his astute business sense, to thank for what we had been offered. I owe you about $30m, David.”

This repeated act of solidarity, as they continued to renegotiate their salaries together, is likely to have been a key factor in what kept them together as a cast. Other TV shows regularly see core cast members leave after disagreements over their salaries. Take Lauren Cohan, who left The Walking Dead after a failed bid to get the same salary as her male co-stars (although she later returned), or Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, who quit Hawaii Five-0 due to a dispute over equal pay. Discrepancies in salaries, unsurprisingly, have a tendency to push actors to walk.

But there was no such rancour or resentment when it came to Friends. “It would’ve destroyed us, I think, if someone was soaring financially,” Aniston told WSJ Magazine earlier this year. Instead, she remained until the very end with the others to give us the perfect ending where Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross and Joey’s storylines could be wrapped up neatly.

Off-screen, the Friends cast also did their best to reach out to Matty, as they liked to call him, while he battled his own demons with drink and drugs throughout the years. When he was cast as Chandler in Friends, he was 24 and had already started to drink heavily. During the show’s run, Perry was consuming 55 Vicodin a day at one point and weighed 128lb [58kg]. Aniston confronted him about his drinking, Perry wrote, in a “kind of weird but loving way”. His co-stars eventually staged an intervention in his dressing room after a read-through was cut short because he was slurring, again banding together as a family trying to help someone that they truly cared for.

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But as he told the Heart of the Matter podcast for Partnership to End Addiction, it didn’t work: “You need a professional. You need somebody who really knows [addiction]. Because what people don’t really understand is if there’s an intervention, the only thing you have to do to end an intervention is just say: ‘No. No, get out of my house.’ And then it’s over. If you have a professional, somebody who does this for a living, and an interventionist and a plane waiting and then you go to rehab, that’s the way to do it.”

In 2022, while promoting his memoir, Perry revealed to the New York Times that he had spent close to $9m (nearly £7.4m) to get clean and that he had been sober for 18 months. Through his struggle with addiction, he remained grateful for the love, kindness and support his Friends castmates showed to him. “In nature, when a penguin is injured, the other penguins group around it and prop it up until it’s better,” he wrote. “This is what my co-stars on Friends did for me.”

Perhaps, at some point, Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc and Schwimmer will be ready to share their individual memories and stories of Perry. But for now let’s leave them to mourn the loss of their charming, talented and vulnerable co-star, who could light up the room in an instant with his quick wit and comic timing. They remain as united in their grief as they have been during times of success – the very best of friends who’ve always had each other’s backs.

• Matthew Perry
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Jennifer Aniston Reflects on ‘Happy’ and ‘Healthy’ Matthew Perry, Texting Him the Day He Died: ‘He Wasn’t Struggling’

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Jennifer Aniston wants the world to know that Matthew Perry was in a good place before his untimely death.

In her first interview following the loss of her “ Friends ” co-star, Aniston told Variety she hopes Perry is remembered “as he said he’d love to be remembered ” — a man who lived well and helped others.

Popular on Variety

Perry died on Oct. 28 at the age of 54. He was best known for starring in all 236 episodes of “Friends,” alongside Aniston, David Schimmer, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow. In 2022, Perry opened up about his struggles with sobriety in his book, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir.”

Following his death, the cast, along with other actors and numerous reporters — myself included ! — wrote about their experiences with Perry and how much his character, Chandler Bing, meant. Additionally, a foundation was founded in his name to help others struggling with addiction.

“It’s so beautiful,” Aniston said of the outpouring of love. “I hope he can know that he was loved in a way he never thought he was.”

Additionally, Aniston tried to find the words to describe Perry’s dialect, which became synonymous with Chandler Bing. “His way of speaking created a whole different world,” she said. “We went with his lead, in a way. It just added something to our joy.”

Witherspoon, who appeared on two episodes of “Friends” in 2000, commended the entire cast of the hit sitcom.

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What Was Matthew Perry's Relationship With Jennifer Aniston Really Like?

Throughout his time on "Friends," Matthew Perry maintained good relationships with all of his cast mates, but his bond with Jennifer Aniston was something truly special. The two actors met through a mutual friend three years before the highly successful TV series started filming, with Perry being immediately in awe of her. But while the two never became romantically involved, their real life friendship became something so much more significant for Perry, who dealt with substance abuse and addiction behind-the-scenes for decades. "She was the one that reached out the most," Perry told Diane Sawyer in 2022. "You know, I'm really grateful to her for that."

Tragically, M atthew Perry died on October 28, 2023 in an apparent drowning at his own home in Los Angeles. Although Aniston has yet to release a public comment on the death, it's clear from their history that the two "Friends" meant a lot to each other.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Perry had a crush on Aniston

Although their "Friends" characters were not love interests, behind-the-scenes everything was a different story — at least for Perry. According to The Independent , the "17 Again" actor developed romantic feelings for Aniston three years before they even sat down for the first "Friends" table read.

Perry recounted these feelings in his tell-all 2022 memoir "Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing," describing it as an instant attraction, writing, "I was immediately taken by her (how could I not be?) and I liked her, and I got the sense she was intrigued too – maybe it was going to be something." Knowing that the two were both young actors getting started in the industry, Perry tried to win her over by telling her whenever he landed impressive roles. But when he eventually asked her on a date, Aniston declined and said she wasn't interested in being anything more than friends.

Although the rejection hurt, Perry forced himself to move on and keep things professional when he and Aniston were both cast on "Friends." He elaborated on this in a 2022 interview with the Sirius XM podcast "The Jess Cagle Show," sharing, "That first day we were able to sail right past the past and focus on the fact that we had both gotten the best job Hollywood had to offer." However, he later admitted that during those early seasons, there was some awkwardness, as he would scrutinize every one of their interactions together. However, this seemed to be more one-sided, and eventually, he was thankful just to have her friendship. 

Aniston was very supportive of Perry through his struggles with addiction

Perry has long been open about his substance abuse and how his "Friends" cast members played a pivotal role in helping him stay on track while the show was filming. However, he has made a point to highlight how Aniston was the "Friend" who went above and beyond to make sure he was okay. During a 2022 interview with Diane Sawyer , Perry pointed out that she was not afraid to be honest with him, recalling one moment where she knocked on his dressing room to tell him the cast could smell alcohol on him. The star alluded to that being a wake up call for him, pointing out that being confronted by Aniston was "devastating."

Despite the tough love, it was clear that Aniston was coming from a place of genuine care and concern. Back in 2004, the actor also appeared on ABC News Diane Sawyer, where she broke down in tears when talking about her co-star's addiction struggles and the casts' inability to help him. "We didn't know" she told the journalist. "We weren't equipped to deal with it. Nobody had ever dealt with that..."

In the years that followed "Friends," Perry experienced many ups and downs with his sobriety journey, including several stints in rehab and multiple hospitalizations. Even though Aniston did not comment publicly on these events, Perry assured Diane Sawyer in 2022 that his friend made an effort to stay in touch well after the show ended. Perry also reunited with Aniston and fellow "Friends" co-stars on the television special "Friends: The Reunion," where they shared several emotional moments together.

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Jennifer Aniston Shares One of the Last Messages She Received from Matthew Perry: 'This One Cuts Deep'

"In the last couple weeks, I’ve been poring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again," Aniston wrote

Jennifer Aniston is reflecting on the loss of her longtime friend Matthew Perry .

For the first time since Perry, 54, died from an apparent drowning on Oct. 28, Aniston has spoken out about her Friends costar and his enduring legacy after his death.

Aniston's Instagram tribute for Perry featured a photo of the pair on set together alongside their loving text exchange containing the same image. Additionally, she included a scene of the duo during the sitcom's 2004 series finale, where their characters Rachel Green and Chandler Bing expressed their love for one another.

"Oh boy this one has cut deep ... Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before," began the actress, 54. "We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA."

Ron Davis/Getty

"We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be," she continued. "For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn't hear the 'laugh' he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard."

Noting further how she's continued to process this loss, Aniston said she had been looking back on their many text conversations, even sharing one of them in her second slide. "In the last couple weeks, I've been poring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I'll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all. (See the second slide…)," she said. "Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying 'could you BE any crazier?'" she added. "Rest little brother. You always made my day… ❤️🕊️"

The actors had been friends since meeting on the hit ‘90s sitcom, and Perry had publicly praised Aniston for her constant support and presence in his life just a year before his death. 

" She was the one that reached out the most. You know, I'm really grateful to her for that," he said of the actress in an October 2022 interview with Diane Sawyer .

In his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing , Perry also revealed that Aniston was the person who initially confronted him about his addiction problem. 

"Imagine how scary a moment that was," he recalled of the difficult conversation during his interview with Sawyer.

The following month, he told Access Hollywood that Aniston was “wonderful” and “terrific” before sharing that he was eager to reunite with the full cast soon .

"We don't see each other as much," he added. "I wish the group would see each other more times, but she's the greatest."

Perry was open generally about how integral the support of his Friends castmates was when he was battling addiction and alcoholism . 

During the 2021 Friends: The Reunion special on HBO Max, he became emotional as he described the cast's enduring bond . "The best way that I can describe it is after the show was over, at a party or any kind of social gathering, if one of us bumped into each other, that was it," he explained. "That was the end of the night. You just sat with the person all night long and that was it."

He continued, "You apologized to the people you were with, but they had to understand you had met somebody special to you and you were going to talk to that person for the rest of the night. And that’s the way it worked."

Aniston agreed with Perry’s sentiment, and it made fellow series alum Courteney Cox cry as he added, "It's certainly the way it worked with all of us. It’s just the way it is."

The Morning Show actress also described the group as people who “will always have your back.”

“ We’ll be family for life ,” she said of the group, which also includes David Schwimmer , Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow .

PEOPLE's newly expanded Friends special edition issue is celebrating Matthew Perry’s life, humor and the show that made him beloved by millions.

In his 2022 cover story, the actor told PEOPLE that his castmates were “understanding” and “patient” with him as he navigated his recovery and sobriety. 

"It's like penguins. In nature, when one is sick or very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up and walk around until that penguin can walk on its own," he said. "And that's kind of what the cast did for me."

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

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Jennifer Aniston Shares a Heartfelt Text Matthew Perry Sent Her Before His Death

The  Friends  star called Perry "our Matty" and said "we loved him deeply."

Jennifer Aniston has spoken out on the death of her  Friends  co-star Matthew Perry, who  died on October 28 at the age of 54. 

On November 15, Aniston shared a moving tribute post to Perry via Instagram . The post featured a sweet black and white photo of the two laughing together on set. Then, she offered a glimpse at a sweet text message Aniston and Perry exchanged before his passing. 

"Making you laugh just made my day. It made my day :)" Perry wrote after sending the same photo to Aniston. 

"Awww the first of THOUSANDS of times," Aniston responded. 

The last part of the post was a sentimental clip of a Season 10 episode of  Friends , where Chandler and Rachel exchanged earnest goodbyes before her character left for Paris. 

RELATED: Matt LeBlanc Shares a Moving Tribute Post for Matthew Perry: "You're Finally Free"

What Jennifer Aniston wrote about Matthew Perry

Aniston followed the post with a heartfelt message honoring Perry's talent and integrity. 

"Oh boy this one has cut deep," she said. "Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA."

RELATED:  Courteney Cox Reveals Her Favorite Monica-Chandler Moment in Tribute to Matthew Perry

She continued, "We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be. For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn't hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard. In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all...

Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying 'could you BE any crazier?' Rest little brother. You always made my day…" she wrote.

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Jennifer Aniston shares text from Matthew Perry in moving tribute: ‘This one has cut deep'

Jennifer aniston penned a message to her "little brother" matthew perry after the "friends" actor's tragic death on oct. 28., by jess cohen | e news • published november 15, 2023 • updated on november 15, 2023 at 1:15 pm.

Jennifer Aniston is sharing an update on her grief journey after  the death  of her friend,  Matthew Perry .

Nearly three weeks after the actor's tragic passing, Aniston penned a message to her "little brother."

"Oh boy this one has cut deep," Aniston, who portrayed character Rachel Green  on "Friends " alongside Perry's Chandler Bing, said in her Nov. 15  Instagram  post. "Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I've never experienced before."

Aniston added that Perry was a part of their DNA.

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"We were always the 6 of us," she said, referring to Perry and fellow "Friends" stars  Courteney Cox ,  Lisa Kudrow ,  Matt LeBlanc  and  David Schwimmer . "This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be."

Since Perry's passing on Oct. 28, Aniston has been looking back on her texts with the "Fools Rush In" star.

"Laughing and crying then laughing again," she said. "I'll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all."

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PHOTOS: The Best Matthew Perry Episodes of 'Friends'

The text, which Aniston shared a screenshot of on Instagram, included a photo of her and Perry smiling on the set of "Friends." "Making you laugh just made my day," he wrote to Aniston under the photo. "It just made my day."

She replied, "Awww the first of THOUSANDS of times."

"The Morning Show" actress concluded her note with a message to Perry.

"I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain," she wrote. "I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying 'could you BE any crazier?'. Rest little brother. You always made my day…"

More heartfelt tributes:

Molly Hurwitz

"He would love that the world is talking about how talented he was. And he really was very talented. As the Friends reunion was approaching, we rewatched the show together. 'F--k, I was so good!!!…See what I did there???' We rewound and studied scenes. Our respect and appreciation of humor is something that connected us. Being with him as he rediscovered his brilliance was magical. But, I obviously knew that man in a very different way, too. While I loved him deeper than I could comprehend, he was complicated, and he caused pain like I’d never known. No one in my adult life has had a more profound impact on me than Matthew Langford Perry. I have tremendous gratitude for that, for everything I learned from our relationship. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Al Anon, an invaluable resource for those who love someone struggling with this destructive disease. Matty, I feel relief that you are at peace. Moll-o-Rama (…fication)."

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer

"We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we're going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss. In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty's family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world."

Bradley Whitford

"Matthew Perry made me laugh. Hard. You have not lived until you have witnessed one of his in-between-the-takes confidential riffs on the absurdity of show business and the idiocy of male confidence, wrapped up perfectly with the sudden realization that we were both grown men who wear makeup for a living. Without substances, Matt had a huge, open heart and a pyrotechnical, joyous brain. I think the most beautiful parts of Matt made him the most vulnerable to the monster that he would have to fight for the rest of his life. His battle was heroic. They don’t have award shows for that. They should. Matt was full of contradictions. He was hilariously self deprecating and insecure and wildly self confident. He was a fountain of light with a huge capacity for darkness. He was profoundly blessed and terribly cursed.I want his parents to know that Matt was kind. Not just to his costar. To everyone. To honor Matt, I hope we can continue the work that mattered most to him: to open our hearts to so many who share his vulnerabilities, to encourage them to get the help they need, and to give them the love and the support they deserve. I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to work with Matt, to spend some precious time with him, and most of all, to be his friend."

Ben Winston

"I feel so unbelievably lucky to have been able to make that reunion show with six truly remarkable people, witnessing their precious unbreakable bond with each other. Spending time with Matthew was simply a dream come true. Kind, caring… and a comedic genius."

Gwyneth Paltrow

"I met Matthew Perry in 1993 at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts," Gwyneth Paltrow  wrote in a tribute  on  Instagram . "We were both there for most of the summer doing plays. He was so funny and so sweet and so much fun to be with. We drove out to swim in creeks, had beers in the local college bar, kissed in a field of long grass. It was a magical summer. He had shot the pilot of Friends but it had not aired yet. He was nervous, hoping his big break was just around the corner. It was. We stayed friends for a while until we drifted apart, but I was always happy to see him when I did. I am super sad today, as so many of us are. I hope Matthew is at peace at long last. I really do."

During Adele's Oct. 28 concert in Las Vegas, which took place just hours after Perry's death was confirmed,  she paused her show to honor him , recalling the impact he had on her childhood. "One of my friends, Andrew, when I was 12 did the best Chandler impression," she told the crowd. "And he would do it all the time to make us laugh. And if anyone was having a bad day or feeling low, he would just pretend to be Chandler. And I'll remember that character for the rest of my life." 

Maggie Wheeler

Maggie Wheeler, who played one of Perry's  most memorable love interests  on "Friends," wrote on  Instagram , "What a loss.The world will miss you Matthew Perry . The joy you brought to so many in your too short lifetime will live on. I feel so very blessed by every creative moment we shared." 

Salma Hayek

After his passing, Perry's "Fools Rush In" costar Salma Hayek noted it took a "couple of days to process this profound sadness."

"There is a special bond that happens when you share dreams with someone, and together you work towards them," she wrote in an Oct. 30 Instagram post. "I was very moved last year when Matthew shared on his Instagram stories how much he loved 'Fools Rush In,' and how he thought that that film we did together was probably his best movie." "Throughout the years, he and I found ourselves reminiscing about that meaningful time in our lives with a deep sense of nostalgia and gratitude," she continued. "My friend, you are gone much too soon, but I will continue to cherish your silliness, your perseverance, and your lovely heart. Farewell, sweet Matthew, we will never forget you."

Alongside  her final texts  with Perry days before his death, his former costar "Ione Skye" wrote on  Instagram , "My last exchange a week ago. I’m very very sad. Loved this guy."

Kathleen Turner

Kathleen Turner,  who played Chandler Bing's parent on "Friends ," told  People , "He had a good sense of humor and a good heart. He liked other people, which, to me, is terribly important, especially for an actor." 

Shannen Doherty

The "Beverly Hills, 90210" star remembered her time spent with the Emmy nominee. "Matt always had THAT sense of humor," she wrote on  Instagram . "Matt and I had a date and it was on Valentine's Day. He wanted to get a reservation at a restaurant in Malibu but couldn't so my dad got the reservation for him. We went and he talked about my dads Irish persuasiveness the majority of the night. Our friendship spanned a long time. A lifetime really. I know many are hurting, especially our little gang. He will be missed by many and definitely by us. Yes. I could be more poetic or say things better but right now, shock and sadness prevail."

Morgan Fairchild

Morgan Fairchild, who played Chandler Bing's mother on "Friends," paid tribute to her onscreen son, captioning a social media post, "I'm heartbroken about the untimely death of my ‘son'. The loss of such a brilliant young actor is a shock. I'm sending love & condolences to his friends & family, especially his dad, John Bennett Perry, who I worked with on Flamingo Road & Falcon Crest."

Rumer Willis

"The Whole Nine Yards" actress, who worked alongside dad  Bruce Willis  and Perry during the 2000 film, shared a touching tribute after Perry's passing. "I'm so sad to hear about Matthew Perry passing," she captioned an Instagram post. "When I was a kid and I was on set while he and my dad were doing whole nine and whole 10 yards he was so kind and funny and sweet with my sisters and me and I think his physical comedy and that movie still makes me laugh so much, I know he had many challenges in his life and brought a lot of joy to people with his comedy I hope he can rest peacefully." 

Paget Brewster

Paget Brewster, who played the role of Kathy in the fourth season of "Friends," remembered the time spent alongside the actor on set. "I'm so very sad to hear about @MatthewPerry," she  wrote on X . "He was lovely to me on Friends and every time I saw him in the decades after. Please read his book. It was his legacy to help. He won't rest in peace though.. He's already too busy making everyone laugh up there."

Yvette Nicole Brown

Perry's "Odd Couple" costar reflected on his legacy, sharing a statement to social media. "Our #OddCouple family suffered a great loss today," she wrote on X,  alongside a photo  featuring the cast. "The entire entertainment world has. I am too sad about the news to say more than this: @mattyperry4 was a sweetheart who deserved more peace in this life. 54 is too young to go. We love you, Matty! #RIPMatthewPerry."

Olivia Munn

The   "Violet" star  praised the actor  for opening up about his sobriety journey after his passing. "He struggled so much with addiction and was brave enough to be open and honest about it," Olivia Munn wrote on Instagram Story Oct. 28. "I'm so sorry to his family and friends who are getting this news today. Nothing short of heartbreaking."

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Jennifer Aniston says Matthew Perry was 'happy' and 'healthy' before his untimely death

“I was literally texting with him that morning," the star recalls in conversation with Reese Witherspoon.

Jessica is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where she covers TV, movies, and pop culture. Her work has appeared in Bustle, NYLON, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, and more. She lives in California with her dog.

Jennifer Aniston is remembering her late Friends costar Matthew Perry "as he said he’d love to be remembered" — as somebody who lived well and helped other people.

"He was happy. He was healthy," Aniston told Reese Witherspoon for Variety 's Emmys edition . "He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that’s all I know. I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty. He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling."

"It’s important people know that," Witherspoon noted.

"It is," Aniston replied. "I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy. He was on a pursuit. He worked so hard. He really was dealt a tough one. I miss him dearly. We all do. Boy, he made us laugh really hard."

Ron Davis/Getty

Aniston said it was "beautiful" to see the outpour of love and support for Perry following his untimely death on Oct. 28 at the age of 54 , from an apparent drowning at his home in Los Angeles.  "I hope he can know that he was loved in a way he never thought he was," Aniston said.

Witherspoon, who guest starred on Friends as Aniston's younger sister, Jill Green, added that she felt "lucky" to witness the bond Perry had with his costars, including Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow , David Schwimmer , and Matt LeBlanc .

"You all were so close," Witherspoon said. "I feel lucky that I got to be on that show and I walked in like Alice in Wonderland, watching the most popular cast do this whole thing. I remember going home and going, oh, they’re in another league. They’re on another planet on comedy levels that I’ve never seen my entire life, pivoting on a dime and working on each other’s energy and it was extraordinary."

Aniston said Perry "created a whole different world," adding, "We went with his lead, in a way. It just added something to our joy."

Perry, beloved for his role as Chandler Bing on the hit NBC sitcom, previously said he wanted to be remembered  "as somebody who lived well, loved well," and helped people while promoting his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing , last year. "That’s what I want," Perry said during an appearance on the Q with Tom Power podcast.

The actor shares intimate details about his past alcohol and drug addiction struggles in the memoir. which topped Amazon's best-sellers list days after his passing.

“The best thing about me, bar none, is that if somebody comes to me and says, ‘I can’t stop drinking, can you help me?’ I can say ‘yes’ and follow up and do it,” Perry told Power. “When I die, I don’t want Friends to be the first thing that’s mentioned. I want that to be the first thing that’s mentioned. And I’m gonna live the rest of my life proving that.”

Related content:

• Friends stars remember Matthew Perry in emotional tributes: 'He made all of us laugh'
• Julia Roberts mourns 'heartbreaking' loss of ex Matthew Perry
• Friends coffee shop, Central Perk, opens first permanent location with a Matthew Perry tribute

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Jennifer Aniston shares text from Matthew Perry that ‘says it all’ in poignant tribute

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Jennifer Aniston has paid moving tribute to her late Friends castmate Matthew Perry.

The actor, best known for his portrayal of sarcastic jokester Chandler Bing , was found dead at his home in Los Angeles, California, on 23 October. He was 54.

On Wednesday (15 November) Aniston, who played Rachel Green on the ultra-popular NBC sitcom, shared a message about Perry on Instagram, around the same time her co-star David Schwimmer also shared a heartfelt tribute .

“Oh boy this one has cut deep... Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love,” the Morning Show star, 54, began.

“Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be. For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn’t hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die.

“His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard. In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all. (See the second slide…),” Aniston continued.

“Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying ‘could you BE any crazier?’” she concluded. “Rest little brother. You always made my day…”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jennifer Aniston (@jenniferaniston)

Aniston’s poignant tribute comes the day after co-stars Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc remembered Perry in separate Instagram posts.

On 30 October, the show’s lead stars released a joint statement asking for time to “process this unfathomable loss”.

They wrote: “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”

“In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”

His 3 November funeral service at the Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills was attended by all of the core Friends cast members, including Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Schwimmer, Cox, and LeBlanc.

Earlier this week, Perry’s death certificate was released by the Los Angeles Police Department .

According to the paperwork, his cause of death remains “deferred” pending further investigation, after initial toxicology tests revealed there was “no meth or fentanyl” in Perry’s system at the time of his death.

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Jennifer Aniston Is ‘Poring Over’ Texts From Matthew Perry

Jennifer Aniston is remembering the laughs she had with Matthew Perry . The actor paid tribute to her late Friends co-star in an Instagram gallery posted on November 14, sharing footage from an episode of their iconic series and a screenshot of a text-message exchange. “In the last couple weeks, I’ve been poring over our texts to one another,” she captioned the post. “Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all.” The message from Perry reads, “Making you laugh just made my day. It made my day :),” sent alongside an image of them chuckling as they did a read-through of a script. Aniston responded, “Aww the first of THOUSANDS of times …🤩😂❤️”

Aniston added details about the grief she is facing after Perry’s death. “Oh boy this one has cut deep … Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before,” she wrote. “We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA.” Aniston signed off with a heartfelt message to her friend. “Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain,” she finished. “I talk to you every day … sometimes I can almost hear you saying ‘could you BE any crazier?’ Rest little brother. You always made my day … ❤️🕊️.”

• matthew perry
• jennifer aniston

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Jennifer Aniston 'figuring out' how to mark Friends milestone after Matthew Perry's death

J ennifer Aniston and her former Friends co-stars are in the midst of planning how to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the show's finale, with a special nod to the dearly missed Matthew Perry .

The iconic sitcom Friends, which first aired in 1994, became an instant hit, turning into one of the most beloved series globally, with its lines still being recited by fans today.

The show featured a star-studded ensemble including Aniston, Perry, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer.

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However, the upcoming celebration is tinged with sadness due to the passing of their friend and colleague Matthew Perry , who passed away in October 2023.

A source told US Weekly: "The former costars are figuring out how to appropriately mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of the finale."

"They will most certainly be commemorating it somehow," the insider asserted, suggesting that the group might share their tributes through social media channels.

"The prospect of having a reunion or a formal get-together without Matthew is bittersweet. There will be a huge void."

The source added: "[But] they know Matthew would've wanted them to carry on and celebrate the show. So that's very much on their minds as they move forward."

US Weekly also mentioned that the cast remains connected, often communicating through group chats and individual conversations, with "Jen and Courtney are in constant contact, and they're both close with Lisa too."

In October, an autopsy report revealed that Perry passed away due to the "acute effects" of ketamine after he was found unresponsive at his California residence.

The report also indicated that "coronary artery disease and buprenorphine, which is used to treat opioid use disorder, also contributed."

Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy, commonly used for managing anxiety and depression symptoms.

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Dr. Andrew Stolbach, a medical toxicologist with Johns Hopkins Medicine who examined the autopsy findings for The Associated Press, commented, "The amount of ketamine detected would be enough to make him lose consciousness and lose his posture and his ability to keep himself above the water."

"Using sedative drugs in a pool or hot tub, especially when you're alone, is extremely risky and, sadly, here it's fatal," Dr. Stolbach remarked, while noting that ketamine "can be used safely."

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