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George Clooney claims filming Friends did not bring Matthew Perry ‘happiness’ due to drugs, alocohol addiction
“And it also just tells you that success and money and all those things, it doesn’t just automatically bring you happiness," George Clooney said
George Clooney has claimed Matthew Perry was not happy while filming Friends due to his drugs and alcohol addiction. Clooney told Deadline that Perry always wanted to play a part in a sitcom. His dream came true after he was included in the Friends cast as popular character Chandler Bing.
However, Perry struggled to be happy due to his addiction issues. “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,'” Clooney, 62, said.
“And he got on probably one of the best ever. He wasn’t happy. It didn’t bring him joy or happiness or peace,” he added.
Clooney explained that although the two worked side by side every day, he had no idea “what was going through him.” Clooney was filming ER at the time, and Perry was filming Friends.
“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,” Clooney said, referring to confessions Perry made in his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
“And it also just tells you that success and money and all those things, it doesn’t just automatically bring you happiness. You have to be happy with yourself and your life,” Clooney added.
Clooney recalled the time he first met Perry, saying, “I knew Matt when he was 16 years old. We used to play paddle tennis together. He’s about 10 years younger than me. He was a great, funny, funny, funny kid.”
Perry was found on October 28, aged 54. His autopsy report revealed he died due to a lethal amount of ketamine and buprenorphine, which is used to assist with opioid addiction and reducing pain, as per Page Six. According to the medical examiner’s report, Perry was receiving ketamine infusions regularly. His last approved dosage was a week before he died.
