The Friends actor was found dead in his hot tub towards the end of October at the age of 54. In December 2023, it was ruled his death was caused by the acute effects of ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic used as a treatment for depression.
And during Variety’s Actors on Actors interviews, Jennifer, 55, spoke to Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson, 34, who asked what it’s like watching Friends since Matthew’s tragic death.
When Jen heard the question, she began tearing up and said: Oh God, Don’t make me cry!’
‘You’re already crying,’ Quinta said. Do you want a minute? We don’t have to talk about [it.]’
The Friends actor was found dead in his hot tub towards the end of October at the age of 54. In December 2023, it was ruled his death was caused by the acute effects of ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic used as a treatment for depression
A producer was quick to hand Jen a tissue while she stated: ‘These are happy tears’
Friends was a huge global hit as it ran for 10 seasons between 1994 and 2004 and starred Jen, Matthew, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, and Lisa Kudrow.
The show followed a group of friends and their life endeavors in New York City.
Speaking about the beloved show, Jennifer said: ‘It’s so strange to even think that it’s 30 years old.
‘The fact that it’s had this long and wonderful life and it still means a lot to people is one of the greatest gifts I think all six of us could ever imagine.
‘It’s a family forever.’
In November, Jennifer attended the funeral for Matthew – who had struggled with addiction to alcohol and drugs for a number of years but was thought to have been sober at the time of his death – her fellow cast members Courteney, Matt, David, and Lisa, but is said to have ‘kept to herself’ on the day.
Jennifer revealed that Matthew was happy and healthy as she was even texting him on the morning of his death.
The actress got candid about their interactions together during Perry’s final days in a new interview with Variety as she is featured on the cover with her The Morning Show co-star Reese Witherspoon.
Aniston said: ‘As he said he’d love to be remembered. He was happy. He was healthy. 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.’
Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on October 28 as local authorities said foul play was not suspected.
No official cause of death has been revealed.
She went on to reveal what she wants people to know about her late pal as she said: ‘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.’
Aniston was ready to say goodbye to her longtime friend Perry on November 15 which was just over two weeks after his untimely death.
The Morning Show star shared an emotional post to Instagram paying tribute to her late Friends co-star.
Aniston included a sweet text message that Perry sent her sometime in the past in which he gushed about being able to make her laugh, something she said was intensely important to him.
Her tribute arrived a day after her fellow costars Matt LeBlanc and Courteney Cox both shared their own tributes to their friend.
In addition to her behind-the-scenes communications with Perry, Aniston included a sweet clip from Friends in which his character Chandler confessed his platonic love for her character Rachel before her tearful goodbye.
‘Oh boy this one has cut deep…,’ Aniston began her difficult farewell.
‘Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before,’ she continued. ‘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,’ the actress declared, adding that Perry was a part of the Friends cast’s ‘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,’ she recalled.
Aniston also recalled Perry’s need to make everyone around him crack up.
‘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,’ she wrote. ‘And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard.’
Among her post was a short personal message that Perry had sent her via text some time in the past, though she didn’t reveal when the exchange took place.
‘In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again,’ Aniston admitted. ‘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…).’
In the text message, Perry appeared to have sent her a black-and-white photo of the two pictured from behind on a set — presumably while taping Friends — as he said something that seemed to make her grin ear to ear.
‘Making you laugh just made my day,’ he wrote with the photo. ‘It made my day :).’
In her text, Aniston replied, ‘Aww the first of THOUSANDS of times…’
In her caption, she added a loving farewell to Perry while hoping that he was at ‘peace’ now.
‘Matty, 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?” she added on a light note, referencing one of Chandler’s catchphrases.
‘Rest little brother,’ she concluded. ‘You always made my day…’
Perry’s tragic death occurred on October 28, when he was discovered underwater in his home’s hot tub by his assistant , who had left his home briefly to pick up some items for him.
In early November, Perry’s death certificate was released. Though the actor is believed to have died of accidental drowning, his cause of death has so far been deferred while awaiting the results of a toxicology report.
According to police, only medications that Perry had a prescription for were found in his home, but the actor had previously been open about his years-long struggle with addiction and drug abuse.
