Jennifer Aniston says her late “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry was on a successful “pursuit” to be a happier and healthier version of himself when he died.
During a Q&A with her “Morning Show” co-star Reese Witherspoon published by Variety, Aniston said she and Perry, who died Oct. 28 at age 54, communicated on the morning of his death.
“He was happy. He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that’s all I know,” Aniston said. “I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty. He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy.”
The Emmy winner said Perry, who had long struggled with addiction, had “worked so hard” to get to a better place in his life.
“I want people to know he was really healthy and getting healthy. 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,” she said.
As for the countless tributes from Perry’s friends and colleagues in Hollywood — including tributes from all five of his former “Friends” co-stars — Aniston called them “beautiful.”
“I hope he can know that he was loved in a way he never thought he was,” she added.
Aniston also credited Perry for setting a comedic tone on “Friends” that she and the other actors followed.
“I also have to say I think Matthew Perry’s dialect, his way of speaking, created a whole different world. We went with his lead, in a way. It just added something to our joy,” she said.
Perry was found unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his home on Oct. 28. He was pronounced dead later the same day. A preliminary investigation found “no obvious signs of trauma” and no signs of foul play. Perry’s official cause of death is pending a coroner’s investigation.
On Nov. 15, Aniston honored Perry on Instagram when she shared a behind-the-scenes photo of the pair laughing on the “Friends” set. She also included a screenshot of a text message between the two and a video of one of the sitcom’s scenes.
“Oh boy this one has cut deep... Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before,” Aniston wrote in her caption.
She went on to say that she and the other “Friends” actors loved Perry “deeply.”
“He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be,” Aniston said.
She mentioned how much Perry “loved to make people laugh.”
“As he said himself, if he didn’t hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard,” Aniston wrote.
She added: “Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying ‘could you BE any crazier?’”