Jennifer Aniston recalls Matthew Perry’s final hours
Jennifer Aniston was friends with Matthew Perry until the very end.
The “Murder Mystery” actress opened up about her former co-star in her first interview since his death at the age of 54 and revealed that she texted him the day he passed, on Oct. 28.
“I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty,” she said in an interview with Variety through tears. “He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy.”
For the interview, Aniston was joined by her “Morning Show” co-star Reese Witherspoon, who held her hand as she wept.
“He was happy,” she recalled. “He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that’s all I know.”
Perry and Aniston became very close while working together — alongside David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow — on the hit NBC series, which aired from Sept. 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004.
“I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy,” Aniston added. “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.”
Aniston also hoped that Perry, who struggled with addiction for most of his life, would be remembered “as he said he’d love to be remembered.”
In November 2022, while appearing on the “Q With Tom Power” podcast to promote his newly published memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry had said, “I would like to be remembered as somebody who lived well, loved well, was a seeker. And his paramount thing is that he wants to help people. That’s what I want.”
Following Perry’s death, friends of his announced they would be establishing the Matthew Perry Foundation, which will aid those battling substance abuse.
“The Matthew Perry Foundation is the realization of Matthew’s enduring commitment to helping others struggling with the disease of addiction,” the organization’s founders said in a statement to “Entertainment Tonight.”
Aniston said she has been moved, since Perry’s death, by the countless tributes paid to him by fans around the world.
“It’s so beautiful,” said Aniston. “I hope he can know that he was loved in a way he never thought he was. His way of speaking created a whole different world. We went with his lead, in a way. It just added something to our joy.”
Read more about Matthew Perry’s life and struggles
Witherspoon, who appeared on two episodes of “Friends” as Aniston’s younger sister, Jill Green, also reflected on her time filming with the cast 23 years ago.
“You all were so close. It’s incredible what was born of those friendships, and how you guys have always taken care of each other for years and years. It’s really beautiful and set standards for our business, as well, with the way you respected each other,” she 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,’” she added. “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.”
Nearly 20 years before Perry’s death, Aniston broke down in tears at the thought of losing him during a 2004 Diane Sawyer interview.
“He struggled,” Aniston said of Perry’s decadeslong battle with drug and alcohol addiction.
“We didn’t know. We weren’t equipped to deal with it,” she continued. “Nobody had ever dealt with that. And the idea of even losing him … he’s having a road. But he’s alright.”
Perry was found dead in his hot tub at his California home. He was unresponsive and already deceased before first responders arrived at the scene.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office labeled Perry’s cause of death as “deferred” while awaiting a toxicology report.
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