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Matthew Perry Was Happy Leading up to His Death, Close Friend Lauren Graham Reveals
Matthew Perry was leading a happy life up until his untimely death on October 28, close friend and actress Lauren Graham has revealed.
“This last year, he was so proud of the book he wrote and of how many people it touched,” Lauren, 56, shared while appearing on CBS Mornings on Thursday, November 16, in reference to the actor’s 2022 book, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. “It was a success that gave him a level of happiness that I hadn’t seen in him for a really long time, so that’s a nice memory.”
Speaking about her own emotional process surrounding Matthew’s death, the Gilmore Girls alum shared that she is “still in shock” over the news.
“I mean, it’s a really tragic loss, and he leaves his beautiful work behind,” Lauren said. “That’s something to be thankful for, and again, the book really meant something to him, so it was a really happy year for him.”
While she maintained space to mourn her friend, Lauren also shared her happy memories with the Friends star that left her in hysterics. “No one made me laugh as hard,” she said, a sentiment shared by many who remembered Matthew in the days and weeks after his death. “Just tears, streaming. There was just such joy in being around him and being his friend.”
Matthew died at the age of 54 due to an apparent drowning at his Pacific Palisades home. Police were called to the scene of a man experiencing cardiac arrest, and the actor was found unresponsive in the hot tub. Matthew’s cause of death has been deferred as of publication until a toxicology report can be concluded.
Lauren and Matthew, meanwhile, shared a love of acting and joined one another on the 2008 film Birds of America. Their bond remained platonic despite rumors that they were romantically involved, but the costars did shout each other out in their respective memoirs, pointing to the bond shared between them.
“Me and the beautiful Lauren Graham,” Matthew wrote in his book alongside a photo of him and the Parenthood alum. “The only bright spot, dude-wise, was at an event where I met Matthew Perry,” Lauren wrote in her 2016 book, Talking as Fast as I Can. “He became my longtime Friend Who I Almost But Never Exactly Dated, or FWIABNED.”
Matthew has been similarly honored by friends and colleagues in the weeks following his shocking death, namely by his five close costars from Friends, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer. After releasing a joint statement two days following Matthew’s death, each Friends alum issued their own statement remembering their beloved costar.
“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,” Jennifer, 54, wrote of Matthew in an Instagram post on November 15. “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.”
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