Nearly 20 years before ’s death, his co-star broke down in tears talking about her fears of losing him.
Perry, on the sitcom, was on the weekend following an apparent drowning.
Over the years the actor had been incredibly , writing in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing that ‘in the dictionary under the word “addict”, there should be a picture of me looking around, very confused’.
From the age of 24, he was in and out of sober living facilities, his fear of ‘being alone’.
His drinking was noticed by his co-stars on the sitcom, which ran from 1994 until 2004, with Perry sharing in recent years how they’d tried to help stage an intervention.
Now, in the wake of his death, an old interview from the year Friends wrapped up has emerged, showing Jennifer, now 54, speaking about her concerns for her colleague.
Back in 2004, Jennifer sat down with Diane Sawyer, who asked the actress what each cast mate ‘didn’t know’ about themselves.
When Perry’s name came up, she looked down and started crying.
‘That he’s alright,’ she replied.
In a voiceover, Diane explained: ‘Perry has had a tough battle with addiction. When it hit, his fellow actors tried, but didn’t know how to help.’
‘He struggled,’ Jennifer went on, referring to his years long battle with drug and alcohol addiction.
‘We didn’t know. We weren’t equipped to deal with it.
‘Nobody had ever dealt with that. And the idea of even losing him … he’s having a road. But he’s alright.’
Perry wrote that he was ‘never’ drunk or high during filming in his memoir.
Last year he also did his own sit-down interview with Diane and credited his co-star with being ‘the one who reached out the most’.
‘You know, I’m really grateful to her for that,’ he said.
He also revealed that Jennifer was the first castmate to confront him about his alcoholism while filming the series, describing it as a ‘scary moment’.
Perry was a lead member of the Friends cast alongside Jennifer as Rachel Green, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller and Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay.
Following the news of his death, on Monday evening.
‘We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,’ they said in the statement sent to People.
‘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. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.’
Friends is streaming on Netflix.
