George Clooney Says FRIENDS Didn’t Bring Matthew Perry ‘Joy’

George Clooney has opened up about his old friend Matthew Perry, and the struggles he faced while filming the hit sitcom Friends.

Matthew sadly passed away in October at just 54 years old.

In an interview with Deadline, George reminisced on the Matthew he remembers from his younger years.

 

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“I knew Matt when he was 16 years old,” he revealed to the publication.

“We used to play paddle tennis together…and he was a great, funny, funny, funny kid.”

George explained that he and Matthew would hang out together with fellow actors Richard Kind and Grant Heslov, and Matthew would talk about his wishes for success.

 

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George said Matthew would tell them, “‘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.'”

Unfortunately, George doesn’t believe that Friends ever brought the star the happiness he hoped for.

“He wasn’t happy. It didn’t bring him joy or happiness or peace,” he shared.

 

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“And watching that go on on the lot—we were at Warner Brothers, we were there right next to each other—it was hard to watch because we didn’t know what was going through him,” George continued, adding, “We just knew that he wasn’t happy.”

Speaking on Matthew’s addiction issues, which he discussed in detail in his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, George confessed he never knew the extent of it.

“I had no idea he was doing what, 12 Vicodin a day and all the stuff he talked about, all that heartbreaking stuff,” he admitted.

 

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“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.”

Rest in peace Matthew.

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• George Clooney
• Matthew Perry