Matthew Perry was mourned by his former Friends costars following his shocking death.
“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer said in a joint statement to Us Weekly on Monday, October 30. “There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”
“In time we will say more, as and when we are able,” the statement continued. “For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”
The actor died at age 54 on Saturday, October 28, after an apparent drowning. Police arrived at his Los Angeles home in response to a call about someone in cardiac arrest, where they reportedly found Perry unconscious in a jacuzzi.
According to the Los Angeles Times, there was no sign of foul play but robbery-homicide detectives are still investigating Perry’s death.
Perry became a household name when he scored the role of Chandler Bing on NBC’s sitcom Friends. He starred in the series — which ran from 1994 to 2004. Perry and his costars remained friends after moving on in their respective careers.
Perry’s tumultuous time on the set of Friends was one of the topics he addressed in his November 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir. He candidly recalled how his struggle with drug and alcohol abuse affected his career.
After the book’s release, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that Perry’s former costars were thrilled by his accomplishment.
“[They’re] all very supportive and proud of him to be coming clean and giving himself closure in so many areas,” an insider shared at the time. “There was a wariness in the build-up to the release for sure, that he may have spilled a lot more embarrassing secrets than he did.”
The source continued: “Despite his upbeat attitude, there’s still a sense of underlying nervousness since he’s thrown his heart and soul into this project. Going into so much detail about his darkest days and sharing those secrets he held onto for all these years has been no easy process. But he’s very happy with how it’s all turning out.”
