Matthew Perry’s sister has opened up about the heartbreaking emotions his family experienced while watching his character, Chandler Bing, marry Monica Geller on “Friends,” knowing the actor might never have that same milestone in real life.
Perry, who battled addiction for much of his life, never married or had children before his death in 2023 at age 54 from the acute effects of ketamine.
“When we saw that wedding, we all knew that he had wanted that in life. He wanted a partner and he wanted kids,” his sister, Mia Perry Bowick, told People in an interview published Wednesday.
Perry’s sister revealed in a recent interview that although their family was aware of the severity of his addiction, they also knew he dreamed of getting married and having children. (Perry pictured with Courteney Cox on “Friends.”)
“We all knew how serious his disorder was, so there was this sense of, ‘Who knows what’s going to happen?’” she added.
Perry’s character, Chandler Bing, married Monica Geller, played by Cox, in the Season 7 finale of “Friends,” which aired in 2001.
In his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” Perry revealed that he was “driven back to the treatment center … in a pickup truck helmed by a sober technician” immediately after filming the wedding scene.
In his memoir, Perry revealed that fans could gauge the severity of his addiction during “Friends” by paying attention to changes in his weight and appearance.
“When I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills. When I have a goatee, it’s lots of pills,” he wrote.
The actor also admitted that by the end of Season 3, he was attempting to obtain 55 Vicodin pills daily to avoid becoming “so sick.”
Beyond his struggles with addiction, Perry had a high-profile dating history that included romances with Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Roberts in the 1990s.
He later dated “Mean Girls” actress Lizzy Caplan from 2006 until 2012.
Perry was in a relationship with Lizzy Caplan for six years. (The former couple pictured above in 2011.)
In November 2020, the “Fools Rush In” star announced his engagement to literary manager Molly Hurwitz, but the pair called it quits just six months later.
“Sometimes things just don’t work out, and this is one of them. I wish Molly the best,” Perry said in a statement released through his representative at the time.
In his memoir, the actor later admitted he was “high as a kite” when he proposed to Hurwitz and claimed he didn’t realize he was engaged until afterward.
Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, pictured above in the upcoming Netflix documentary about her brother, is opening up about his life and death for the first time.
“I didn’t remember — needless to say, we broke up,” Perry wrote in his memoir, reflecting on his engagement to Hurwitz.
Bowick shares her perspective on her brother’s struggles and tragic death in the new Netflix docuseries “The One About Matthew Perry,” set to premiere Oct. 27.
Arriving just days before the third anniversary of Perry’s death, the three-part documentary features interviews with Bowick and several of the late actor’s longtime friends.
Perry, pictured above with his sister Mia, died in 2023 from the acute effects of ketamine after being found unresponsive in his hot tub.
The “Friends” star was discovered dead at his California home on Oct. 28, 2023. His autopsy report listed drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, an opioid medication, as contributing factors.
In August 2024, five people were arrested in connection with the investigation into Perry’s death, including his longtime assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and Jasveen Sangha, who was dubbed the “Ketamine Queen.”
Authorities accused the group of exploiting Perry’s struggles with addiction for financial gain, ultimately contributing to his fatal overdose.
Sangha was sentenced to 15 years in prison for her involvement in the actor’s death, while Iwamasa received a sentence of three years and five months behind bars.
