George Clooney has shared his belief that working on Friends didn’t bring Matthew Perry “joy or happiness”.
The actor reflected on his friendship with Perry and working together in the TV industry while promoting his new film The Boys In The Boat.
Perry died at the age of 54 in October of this year. Last week, his cause of death was ruled as the “acute effects of ketamine” in what was deemed an accident. Other contributing factors listed were drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, used to treat opioid use disorder.
“We used to play paddle tennis together. He’s about 10 years younger than me. And he was a great, funny, funny, funny kid,” Clooney told Deadline, recalling a 16-year-old Perry.
The Oceans Eleven actor also remembered Perry sharing his dreams of landing a sitcom role: “He was a kid and all he would say to us, I mean me, Richard Kind and Grant Heslov, was, I just want to get on a sitcom, man. I just want to get on a regular sitcom and I would be the happiest man on earth. And he got on probably one of the best ever.
“He wasn’t happy. It didn’t bring him joy or happiness or peace.”
The actors worked side by side on the Warner Brothers lot while Clooney shot ER and Perry starred as Chandler Bing in Friends. Clooney added that “it was hard to watch because we didn’t know what was going through him”.
He went on: “We just knew that he wasn’t happy and I had no idea he was doing what, 12 Vicodin a day and all the stuff he talked about, all that heartbreaking stuff. And it also just tells you that success and money and all those things, it doesn’t just automatically bring you happiness. You have to be happy with yourself and your life.”
Following Perry’s death, his Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow all paid tribute.
In a joint statement at the time, the cast said: “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just castmates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.
Anniston recently said that Perry was “not in pain” and “wasn’t struggling” before his death. Last month, close friend Lauren Graham also said Perry was feeling “happy” and “proud” prior to his passing.