Matthew Perry was 'happy' the day he died, Jennifer Aniston says, as she reveals she spoke to Friends co-star that day
12 December 2023, 09:20 | Updated: 12 December 2023, 09:21
Matthew Perry was "happy" and "funny" on the day that he died, Jennifer Aniston has said.
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Aniston said that she had been messaging her former Friends co-star, who died at his LA home in October, that morning.
Perry, 54, struggled with long-term addictions to drugs and alcohol addiction, but no drugs were found in his system after he died and loved ones said he had been in good spirits.
Aniston said Perry, who played Chandler on the beloved US sitcom, was "healthy" before his death.
She told Variety: "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. He was happy."
Aniston, who played Rachel, said she wanted the public to know that Perry had been doing well before he died.
She said: "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."
Perry's death sparked an outpouring of grief and tributes from fans around the world.
Aniston said the show of emotion was "beautiful". She and the other Friends co-stars, who are said still to be close, released their own tribute to Perry in the days after his death.
Aniston said: "I hope he can know that he was loved in a way he never thought he was,” she said.
She published her own individual tribute to him in November, saying: "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. 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."
