Jennifer Aniston was friends with Matthew Perry until the very end.
The “Murder Mystery” actress opened up about her former co-star in her first interview since his death at the age of 54 and revealed that she texted him the day he passed on October 28.
“I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty,” she said in an interview with Variety through tears. “He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy.”
Aniston was joined by her “Morning Show” co-star Reese Witherspoon for the interview who held her hand as she wept.
“He was happy,” she recalled. “He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that’s all I know.”
Perry and Aniston became very close when they worked together on the hit NBC series alongside David Schimmer, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow which aired from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004.
“I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy,” Aniston added. “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 also hoped that Perry, who struggled with his addiction for most of his life, would be remembered “as he said he’d love to be remembered.”
In Nov. 2022, the actor went on the “Q with Tom Power” podcast in Toronto to promote his memoir “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” and said “I would like to be remembered as somebody who lived well, loved well, was a seeker. And his paramount thing is that he wants to help people. That’s what I want.”
After his death Perry’s friends established the Matthew Perry Foundation to aid those battling substance abuse.
“The Matthew Perry Foundation is the realization of Matthew’s enduring commitment to helping others struggling with the disease of addiction,” officials said in a statement to “Entertainment Tonight.”
Since his passing Aniston said that she was especially moved by the countless tributes to Perry and the “outpouring of love” from fans around the world.
“It’s so beautiful,” said Aniston. “I hope he can know that he was loved in a way he never thought he was. His way of speaking created a whole different world,” she added “We went with his lead, in a way. It just added something to our joy.”
Witherspoon, who appeared on two episodes of “Friends” as Aniston’s younger sister Jill Green, also reflected on her time filming with the cast twenty-three years ago.
“You all were so close. It’s incredible what was born of those friendships, and how you guys have always taken care of each other for years and years. It’s really beautiful and set standards for our business, as well, with the way you respected each other,” she said. “I feel lucky that I got to be on that show and I walked in like Alice in Wonderland, watching the most popular cast do this whole thing.”
“I remember going home and going, oh, they’re in another league,” she added. “They’re on another planet on comedy levels that I’ve never seen my entire life, pivoting on a dime and working on each other’s energy and it was extraordinary.”
Nearly 20 years before Perry’s death, Aniston broke down in tears at the thought of losing him during a 2004 Diane Sawyer interview.
“He struggled,” Aniston said of Perry’s decades-long battle with drug and alcohol addiction.
“We didn’t know. We weren’t equipped to deal with it,” she continued. “Nobody had ever dealt with that. And the idea of even losing him … he’s having a road. But he’s alright.”
Perry was found dead in his hot tub at his California home. He was unresponsive and already deceased before first responders arrived at the scene.
The LA County Medical Examiner’s Office labeled Perry’s cause of death as “deferred” while awaiting a toxicology report.