Matthew Perry returned to rehab immediately after filming Chandler and Monica’s ‘Friends’ wedding
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Matthew Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, has revealed why the ‘Friends’ episode featuring Chandler and Monica’s wedding was bittersweet for their family.
While the fictional couple exchanged vows, Perry’s loved ones were uncertain whether the actor, who struggled with addiction, would ever experience marriage and parenthood. Perry died in 2023 at 54 from the acute effects of ketamine.
Matthew Perry’s sister recalls family’s fears during ‘Friends’ wedding episode
“When we saw that wedding, we all knew that he had wanted that in life. He wanted a partner and he wanted kids,” Bowick told People in an interview published Wednesday. “We all knew how serious his disorder was, so there was this sense of, ‘Who knows what’s going to happen?’”
Courteney Cox’s Monica and Perry’s Chandler married during the Season 7 finale of ‘Friends’, which aired in 2001. However, Perry’s personal struggles with substance abuse continued behind the scenes.
In his 2022 memoir, ‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing’, Perry revealed that he was immediately “driven back to the treatment center … in a pickup truck helmed by a sober technician” after the wedding scene wrapped.
The actor also described how his addiction affected him throughout filming the sitcom, explaining how viewers could identify his condition through changes in his appearance.
Perry had a long dating history that included Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Roberts in the 1990s. He later dated ‘Mean Girls’ star Lizzy Caplan from 2006 to 2012. In November 2020, the ‘Fools Rush In’ actor revealed that he had proposed to literary manager Molly Hurwitz, his girlfriend at the time.
However, the couple separated 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 through his representative.
Matthew Perry’s sister opens up about his death in Netflix documentary
Bowick is speaking publicly about her brother’s death for the first time in the upcoming Netflix documentary ‘The One About Matthew Perry’, which premieres on October 27. The three-episode series features commentary from Bowick and several of Perry’s longtime friends.
The documentary premieres shortly before the third anniversary of Perry’s death. He died in his hot tub at his California home on October 28, 2023. Alongside the acute effects of ketamine, the official autopsy report listed drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, an opioid, as contributing factors.
In August 2024, five arrests were made during the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Perry’s death.
His longtime assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 61, and four others, including Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Ketamine Queen,” were accused of profiting from the actor and his worsening drug addiction, which resulted in his fatal overdose.
Sangha was sentenced to 15 years in prison for her role in Perry’s death. Iwamasa was subsequently sentenced to three years and five months behind bars.
