(L-R) Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow in 2003. Jon Koplaff/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Jennifer Aniston said she had been "mourning" her Friends co-star Matthew Perry long before he died in 2023. During a recent interview with Vanity Fair, the actress opened up about how she and her fellow Friends castmembers - including Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer - tried to help Perry over the years during his struggles with addiction. "We did everything we could when we could," she said. "But it almost felt like we'd been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight. As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there's a part of me that thinks this is better." Related Stories Lifestyle The Key to Eternal Youth? (You Don't Want to Know) TV 'Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy' Sets Summer Airdate on ITV in the U.K. (Exclusive) The Morning Show star added, "I'm glad he's out of that pain." Perry, who died at age 54 from the acute effects of the anesthetic ketamine, with drowning a contributing factor, previously detailed how his friends helped him in his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. He also told Diane Sawyer in 2022 that Aniston "was the one that reached out the most" throughout his entire struggle with addiction, which dated back to his early years on the hit sitcom that ran from 1994 to 2004. Following his death, Aniston shared a touching tribute to her late friend and co-star. "Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I've never experienced before," she wrote on Instagram in November 2023. "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." She continued, "And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be. For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn't hear the 'laugh' he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard." THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up Obituaries Cause of Death of Kelly Clarkson's Ex-Husband Brandon Blackstock Revealed by Coroner The White Lotus Michelle Obama on Hollywood Advice for Malia and Her Favorite 'White Lotus' Moment tom hanks James Lovell, Apollo 13 Moon Mission Leader, Dies at 97 YouTube YouTube Commits $3M to Support L.A. Creative Professionals Impacted by L.A. Wildfires Woody Allen Woody Allen Compared Jeffrey Epstein to Dracula in Birthday Letter Rambling Reporter Those Elizabeth Holmes Billboards That Are Popping Up All Over Town? Meet the Mystery Man Behind Them Obituaries Cause of Death of Kelly Clarkson's Ex-Husband Brandon Blackstock Revealed by Coroner The White Lotus Michelle Obama on Hollywood Advice for Malia and Her Favorite 'White Lotus' Moment tom hanks James Lovell, Apollo 13 Moon Mission Leader, Dies at 97 YouTube YouTube Commits $3M to Support L.A. Creative Professionals Impacted by L.A. Wildfires Woody Allen Woody Allen Compared Jeffrey Epstein to Dracula in Birthday Letter Rambling Reporter Those Elizabeth Holmes Billboards That Are Popping Up All Over Town? Meet the Mystery Man Behind Them