Jennifer Aniston has revealed that she and the Friends cast had been 'mourning' Matthew Perry long before his death in October 2023, due to his prolonged battle with addiction.
Speaking to Vanity Fair in a new cover story, Aniston opened up about the reality of watching her co-star struggle with substance abuse over the years. 'We did everything we could when we could,' she said. 'But 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.'
Perry, who played Chandler Bing opposite Aniston's Rachel Green, died at age 54 from the 'acute effects' of ketamine. He had been open about his decades-long struggle with drugs and alcohol, detailing his experiences in his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
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In his memoir, Perry revealed that Aniston 'was the one who reached out the most' during his journey to sobriety, and that she had confronted him about his drinking patterns. The cast's efforts to support their colleague continued both during the show's run and in the years following its 2004 finale.
Despite their attempts to help, Aniston acknowledged the limitations of what friends and family can do when someone is battling addiction. 'As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there's a part of me that thinks this is better,' she told the outlet.
Perry had previously praised his co-stars' loyalty in his memoir, writing: 'In nature, when a penguin is injured, the other penguins group around it and prop it up until it's better. This is what my co-stars on Friends did for me.'
Though he was 18 months sober at the time of his book's release, Perry died in October 2023 due to acute effects of ketamine. Following his death, several people were charged in connection with supplying him with the drug, including Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who pleaded guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine.
After Perry's death, Aniston shared a heartfelt Instagram tribute that included a text message Perry had sent her featuring a photo of them laughing on set, with the message: 'Making you laugh just made my day. It made my day.'
In that post, she wrote: 'Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I've never experienced before. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the six of us.'
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Naomi May is a seasoned culture journalist and editor with over ten years’ worth of experience in shaping stories and building digital communities. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard, where she worked across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Digital Editor at ELLE Magazine and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others. Naomi is also the host of the ELLE Collective book club.
