Jennifer Aniston, on Matthew Perry’s death: ‘He really was dealt a tough one. I miss him dearly’

It’s been a month and a half since the death of Matthew Perry, the beloved Chandler Bing from Friends, and the whole world, his acquaintances and his co-stars are still mourning his loss. One of those who was closest to him was actress Jennifer Aniston, who for a decade was his colleague in the series, giving life to Rachel Green. The two were good friends on and off the screen, and remained in touch after the series ended in 2004. Although the actress had issued a joint statement with the other four Friends stars following Perry’s death, she has now spoken about it for the first time in a chat with the magazine Variety.

Aniston gave a long interview and is the cover star of this week’s issue of Variety, along with her co-star in The Morning Show (Apple TV), actress Reese Witherspoon. In the article, both actresses talk about how they have known each other for 20 years and have become “partners,” “friends.” “We’re girlfriends, and we share all sorts of heartbreaks in life and love and everything,” says Aniston. Shortly after, she starts talking about Matthew Perry, something that makes her burst into tears. According to the magazine feature, Witherspoon then grabs her hand and doesn’t let go until the end of the interview.

When asked how she wants the world to remember the late Friends cast member, Aniston says: “As he said he’d love to be remembered. He was happy. He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that’s all I know. I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty. He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy.” Perry’s health history was complicated, having gone through serious health problems, as well as problems with alcohol and drugs. “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 adds.

Aniston acknowledges that seeing so many people mourning and remembering Perry has been “beautiful.” “I hope he can know that he was loved in a way he never thought he was,” she says. Speaking of working alongside Witherspoon, who praises the talent of the entire Friends cast, Aniston assures that Perry’s “dialect” was groundbreaking in the comedy world. “He created a whole different world. We went with his lead, in a way. It just added something to our joy.”

Perry’s death has been especially hard for Aniston, whose father, fellow actor John Aniston, passed away a year ago at the age of 89. She has had to deal with two great losses. According to Page Six, she was the first to arrive at Perry’s funeral, held in privacy in a cemetery north of Los Angeles a few days after his death. Per accounts from the funeral, the actress was visibly devastated.

Aniston shared an emotional message on her Instagram on November 15 in which she remembered her friend, whom she said “loved to make people laugh.” “Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him 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 wrote. “He KNEW he 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. […] Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain,” she added.

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