Lisa Kudrow and Mattew Perry in 'Friends'. Photo: Handout
Lisa Kudrow has found comfort in the death of former Friends co-star Matthew Perry – who was found floating face down in a hot tub last year from “the acute effects of ketamine.”
The Emmy Award-winning actress opened up a bit about the tragic 2023 passing of the actor she appeared alongside on the popular NBC sitcom for 10 seasons.
“This will sound odd. I’m more comforted that he was happy the day he died,” she said during the new episode of the Armchair Expert podcast that dropped Monday (Dec 9). “He got to die happy. And to me, that was a gift.”
Host Dax Shepard, a self-described recovering addict, touched upon the subject of Perry’s demise after saying he knew him “through sobriety.”
“This is where I start chewing my gum,” Kudrow responded. “This is where I need my nicotine.”
Perry, who was open about his life-long struggles with substance abuse, was initially thought to be sober at the time of his death at age 54.
In his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing, the actor wrote that he “probably spent US$9mil or something trying to get sober” from addictions to alcohol and opioids.
Kudrow, 61, told Shepard it was “complicated” to further discuss her relationship with Perry.
“I loved that Matthew I first met and the one at the end, because God love him, this is you, and I love you,” she said. “I understand, and so did he.”
Weeks after his shocking death, The Comeback star shared a tribute on Instagram, mentioning how Perry showed her “grace and love” throughout their relationship.
She also wrote: “Thank you for your open heart in a six way relationship that required compromise. And a lot of ‘talking.’ Thank you for showing up at work when you weren’t well and then, being completely brilliant. Thank you for the best 10 years a person gets to have. Thank you for trusting me.” – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
