Minnie Driver has spoken about Matthew Perry’s ‘inner struggle’ starring on Friends (Picture: NBC Universal via Getty Images)
Minnie Driver has said she believes starring on Friends contributed to Matthew Perry’s ‘inner struggle’.
Perry, who played Chandler Bing in the hit US sitcom, died on October 28 aged 54.
Last week it was confirmed his death was accidental, with contributing factors including ‘drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine’ – which is used to treat opioid use disorder.
Now one of his close friends, actress Minnie Driver, has spoken about how he struggled to shake being so closely identified with the role that made him a household name.
The pair became close after starring in a production of Sexual Perversity in Chicago in London in 2003, with Minnie now recalling his frustration at being unable to break away from being known as Chandler Bing.
‘That summer, he was also loving exploring this world outside Friends, very deliberately living and working as an actor,’ she said.
The pair starred in a play together in 2003 (Picture: Vince Bucci/Getty Images)
‘That character was going to be iconic and beloved for ever, but clearly, there was so much more to him,’ she wrote in a piece for The Guardian.
‘But he knew that Friends was never going to let him go. It was a pretty tight yoke.’
She continued: ‘Part of Matthew’s inner struggle was that he was so closely identified with a role that was also beloved to him – one that he was so good at. But it also held him in a specific place, so it felt like a tug of war.
Perry starred on the sitcom from 1994 until 2004 (Picture: NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
The actress, 53, said she found it ‘unbearable’ to read about Perry’s struggle with addiction, which he candidly wrote about in his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, which was released last year.
‘I found it incredibly hard to read and had to put it down and pick it up again – it felt unbearable, how much he suffered,’ she said.
Minnie went on to share the last time they met up was during his book tour last year, during which he reassured her sharing his experience had helped.
The actor died in October (Picture: Getty)
‘It was such a relief hearing him say that by putting all that tough stuff out there, he’d exorcised it in a way,’ she added.
She went on to write that she believed writing the book ‘ultimately seemed like a positive thing’ for Perry.
Earlier this week George Clooney also spoke about how he thought Perry didn’t find ‘joy or happiness or peace’ on the sitcom, which ran from 1994 until 2004.
George Clooney also recently spoke about Perry’s struggles (Picture: Getty)
Reflecting on his friendship with Perry, he shared: ‘He was a kid and all he would say to us, I mean me, Richard Kind and Grant Heslov, was, I just want to get on a sitcom, man. I just want to get on a regular sitcom and I would be the happiest man on earth.
‘And he got on probably one of the best ever. He wasn’t happy. It didn’t bring him joy or happiness or peace.’
George, who worked at the same studios while filming ER, Warner Brothers, at the time said it was ‘hard to watch’ Perry as they didn’t ‘know what was going through him
He continued to Deadline: ‘We just knew that he wasn’t happy and I had no idea he was doing what, 12 Vicodin a day and all the stuff he talked about, all that heartbreaking stuff.’
He previously said he didn’t want to solely be remembered for his role on Friends (Picture: Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic)
However, in a recent interview, Perry’s Friends co-star said that on the day of his death, he seemed ‘happy’.
‘I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty. He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy,’ she told Variety.
In an interview with Tom Power in 2022, Perry explained he wanted to not be remembered solely for his role in Friends, but also for his efforts in helping people who were struggling with addiction.
‘I’d like to be remembered as someone who lived well, loved well, was a seeker. And his paramount thing is that he wants to help people. That’s what I want,’ he said.
Friends is streaming on Netflix.
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‘He knew Friends was never going to let him go.’
