The creators of “Friends” are speaking out about the death of Matthew Perry.
Marta Kauffman says she spoke with Perry two weeks ago and they had a delightful chat.
“It was great. He was happy, and chipper,” she told Hoda Kotb in an interview with co-creator David Crane that aired Nov. 1 on TODAY. “He didn’t seem weighed down by anything. He was in a really good place, which is why this seems so unfair.”
Perry's death at age 54 stunned fans and those in the Hollywood community who are mourning his loss. Reports surfaced that Perry had been feeling well at the time of his death, even playing pickleball hours before he died. That just amplified how stunned Kauffman felt.
“I was just in utter shock,” she said. “My first impulse was to text him, honestly. And then deep sadness. It’s hard to grasp. You know, one minute he’s here and happy, and then poof. And doing good in the world. Really doing good in the world.”
Perry had said that when he died people would be shocked by the news, but not surprised. Crane said he agrees with that sentiment.
“I would say that’s probably true,” he said. “Given the journey he’d been on, and we were all aware of it, there was always a part that was kind of bracing for something like this. But it is still hard to believe because he was such a sort of alive person that it’s hard to believe he’s not here.”
Perry was very candid about his addiction struggles in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” writing about how he went to rehab multiple times, spent millions of dollars trying to get clean and undergoing surgeries due to his addiction. Kauffman said those who were close to him knew about his troubles. She also said she was worried about him when he took part in the “Friends” reunion in 2021.
“Yes, I was concerned about him. Knowing that he’d been through everything he’d been through, and every time he had surgery they’re giving him opioids for pain, and the cycle starts over again,” she said. “So, yes, I was concerned about what point in the cycle he was in that moment.”
The “Friends” cast released a statement reacting to Perry’s death.
“We’re so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew,” they said. “We’re more than just castmates, we’re family. There’s so much to say, but now we’re gonna take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”
Crane agrees with the notion that the “Friends” cast and creators were indeed a family.
“Oh, absolutely,” he said. “And you put six actors together on a show, you don’t know what the chemistry between them is going to be as people, as actors.
“And from day one, the six of them, it absolutely, you could tell they were going to be a family. And we all were. And in 10 years you do go through a lot. There’s a journey on screen and off screen. And I think when we talk about Matthew, we were all very aware that our priority was supporting him.”
Kauffman said she felt Perry was in a good place when they last spoke.
“Yes. I did feel that way. I did. He seemed better than I had seen in a while. I was so thrilled to see that. He was emotionally in a good place. He looked good. He quit smoking,” she said, noting that he was sober at that time.
Kauffman said he was doing well and had found that his struggles provided something in his life that gave him meaning.
“He learned things throughout this, and what he learned more than anything is that he wants to help other addicts. And it gave him purpose,” she said.
In one of his last interviews, Perry said he didn’t want “Friends” to be the first thing that people remembered about him and that he’d rather be remembered as someone who helped others deal with the types of issues he did.
“That doesn’t surprise me that as important as the show was, and continues to be, I think that absolutely became his purpose, his reason for being,” Crane said.
Kauffman says that Perry’s death was crushing for her, and for all the people he was able to connect with in his life.
“I lost a friend, in multiple ways. And what’s amazing is the outpouring from the fans who lost a friend of theirs, too. And I hope wherever he is, he feels it,” she said.