Matthew Perry’s sister opens up on ‘cracking up laughing’ during actor’s ‘harrowing’ private funeral
Matthew Perry’s sister has recalled ‘cracking up’ with laughter during the actor’s ‘harrowing’ funeral.
The actor, best-known for playing Chandler Bing in Friends from 1994 to 2004, tragically died in October 2023 from a fatal ketamine overdose.
He was just 54.
His life, including his rise to fame and battles with addiction, is the focus of an upcoming Netflix documentary The One About Matthew Perry.
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The three-part documentary series features interviews with Perry's sister Mia Perry Bowick.
In an interview with Page Six, the documentary’s director Mary Robertson, has opened up about the new series and said one of the most impactful parts was hearing Bowick talk about Perry’s private funeral.
Robertson told the publication that Bowick’s memories of the day are both ‘wrenching and harrowing’.
Bowick also shared the moment when she began laughing during the service as she felt her brother was with her.
“He showed up right behind my right shoulder and goes, ‘How f**ked up is this?’” she recalls in the documentary.
“And I started laughing so hard. I was like, ‘Oh my god — there he is!’ Making me laugh at the most horrible moment, and also incredibly inappropriate for me to start laughing … But I just started cracking up. And I was like, ‘Yeah man, this is pretty f**ked up.’”
Robertson noted that it was fairly common to laugh at funerals and stressed that it did not diminish Bowick’s grief at losing her brother so suddenly.
“I think that is true to Matthew’s lived experience, true to Mathews’s legacy, and true to our experience as humans,” she added.
Bowick also remembered seeing Perry’s Friends cast mates - Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow - at the funeral.
“I hadn’t seen them in easily 20 years. [Jennifer] Aniston was the first one of them to come up to me and give me a huge hug. But, they all did,” she said.
“And then, all five of them walked up to the casket holding hands and stood around him, crying.”
The new docu-series will feature interviews with those closest to Perry as well as previously unseen family photos and videos.
“It’s taken time for me to feel ready to share these memories and what it was like to love Matthew through all the complexity of his life — to see him as a whole person, not just as Chandler, and not just as someone who struggled with addiction,” Bowick said.
“As his sister, he shaped who I am today, the person I strive to be, and the work to which I’ve devoted my life. Matthew had a beautiful heart and a generous spirit, and even in his darkest moments, he could still make you laugh and feel loved. I hope this series gives everyone who loved him, whether personally or from afar, a deeper appreciation for who he truly was, and the legacy he leaves behind.”
All three parts of The One About Matthew Perry arrive on Netflix on 27 October.
Topics: Matthew Perry, Friends, Celebrity, TV and Film
Claire Reid