Matthew Perry’s sister makes heartbreaking confession about iconic Friends episode
Matthew Perry’s sister has made a devastating confession about what his family were feeling when they watched the much-loved Friends episode where his character, Chandler Bing, marries Monica Geller.
Mia Perry Bowick revealed that watching that episode was bittersweet for his family because they didn’t know if they would ever get to see him walk down the aisle in real life due to his struggles with addiction.
Matthew Perry and his sister Mia are pictured.t Instagram/miaperrybowick
“When we saw that wedding, we all knew that he had wanted that in life; he wanted a partner and he wanted children,” Perry Bowick told People Magazine.
Perry died in 2023 at the age of 54. According to the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office, the actor died from “acute effects of ketamine.” According to the autopsy report, drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine (an opioid medication) effects were listed as other conditions that contributed to his death.
“We all knew how serious his disorder was, so there was this sense of, ‘Who knows what’s going to happen?’” his sister continued.
Monica, played by Courteney Cox, and Chandler wed in the final episode of Season 7 of the beloved sitcom.
In his 2022 book, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry wrote that he was “driven back to the treatment centre... in a pickup truck helmed by a sober technician” right after the episode wrapped filming.
Elsewhere in the book, he explained how his addiction took a physical toll on him during filming.
“When I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills. When I have a goatee, it’s lots of pills,” he wrote.
Perry added that by the end of the third season he was trying to take 55 prescription painkillers a day.
A posthumous Netflix documentary about Perry’s life, The One About Matthew Perry, explored his crippling battle with addiction.
Monica and Chandler’s wedding is largely regarded as one of the best Friends episodes of all time. Bright/Kauffman/Crane Prod. & Warner Bros
Perry died in 2023 at the age of 54. Getty
In the documentary, Perry explained that he was thrilled to become famous, although the reality quickly set in that it “doesn’t fix” the problems “inside” of him.
“This doesn’t do what I thought it was going to do,” he admitted.
Perry’s sister also appeared in the documentary and opened up about the lengths he went to in his bid for sobriety.
“All great stories have comedy and tragedy in them, and that was certainly Matthew’s story,” she said in one clip.
Perry’s battle with addiction is something that he struggled with throughout his fame, and something he tried to fix.
“My brother would talk about that feeling of emptiness or loneliness that he couldn’t quite fill,” she continued. “He spent $7 million trying to get sober.”
Perry Bowick said: “That’s how seriously he took his disease.”
