Jennifer Aniston revealed in a new Vanity Fair cover story that the cast of “Friends” had been “mourning” Matthew Perry long before his death at 54 in October 2023. Perry, who played Chandler Bing opposite Aniston’s Rachel Green, died from the acute effects of ketamine. He had been open about his long struggle with substance abuse, which began as “Friends” turned him and the rest of the cast into global stars.
“We did everything we could when we could,” Aniston told Vanity Fair, speaking about their efforts to help Perry during his battle with addiction both during and after the sitcom’s run. “But it almost felt like we had been mourning Matthew for a long time because his fight with that disease was such a hard one for him. As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there is a part of me that thinks this is better. I am glad he is out of that pain.”
After his death, Aniston paid tribute to Perry by sharing a heartfelt text message he once sent her. The message included a photo of them laughing together on the “Friends” set with the words, “Making you laugh just made my day. It made my day.”
“Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I have never experienced before,” Aniston wrote on social media at the time. “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 and where our paths would lead. For Matty, he knew he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he did not 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.”
Speaking to Variety later, Aniston revealed that she had texted Perry on the day he died. She described him as happy and healthy, saying he had quit smoking, was getting in shape, and was not in pain or struggling.
“I want people to know he was really healthy and working on himself,” Aniston said. “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.”
