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Jennifer Aniston says losing Friends co-star Matthew Perry was heartbreaking, but her grief had begun long before his sudden death in October 2023.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Aniston shared that she and the rest of the Friends cast — Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow — had tried for years to help Perry through his struggles with addiction. "We did everything we could when we could," she said. "It almost felt like we'd been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight. As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there's a part of me that thinks this is better. I'm glad he's out of that pain."
Perry, who played Chandler Bing for 10 seasons, died at 54. After his passing, Aniston posted a personal tribute on Instagram, sharing a text message Perry had once sent her along with a photo from the Friends set. "Making you laugh just made my day. It made my day:)" he wrote. She replied, "Awww the first of THOUSANDS of times."
"Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I've never experienced before," she wrote. "He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the six of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were."
In an interview with Variety, Aniston revealed she had spoken to Perry on the day he died. She described him as being in good spirits, in better health, having quit smoking, and focusing on getting in shape. She said he was neither in pain nor struggling at that time.
"I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy," she added. "He was on a pursuit. He worked so hard... Boy, he made us laugh really hard."
Reflecting on the love and support shown after his death, she said, "I hope he can know that he was loved in a way he never thought he was."
