Remembering Matthew Perry- His Final Days, Rare Moments From Friends and More,
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00:00 (gentle music)
00:02 Tonight.
00:03 Remember this 'cause we're not gonna find this again.
00:06 Remembering Matthew Perry.
00:09 We have new details on his shocking death
00:12 and how he spent his final days.
00:14 If you had one more message to Matt, what would it be?
00:18 Thanks for being a very good friend.
00:20 Plus, we're with his co-stars sharing memories.
00:23 His greatest gift was his heart.
00:25 And tributes.
00:26 The kindness, that is his true legacy.
00:29 Why he wanted his battle with addiction
00:31 to be part of his legacy.
00:32 You either lie down about it
00:33 or step up to bat and take your swing.
00:36 Plus, never before seen interviews
00:38 from the set of "Friends".
00:39 Sorry, we just gotta get through.
00:41 Hi, we're here for entertainment tonight
00:42 with television's Courtney Cox
00:44 and television's David Schwimmer.
00:45 And the stories behind his unbreakable bond with the cast.
00:49 Yeah, I'm gonna cry now.
00:50 It's a very loving, tight knit group.
00:54 ET starts now.
00:57 A comedy light extinguished way too soon.
01:01 Tonight, ET remembers Matthew Perry.
01:04 Welcome everyone.
01:06 Yes, Matthew was everyone's forever friend.
01:08 But in his passing, we are also seeing
01:10 how beloved he was as a human being.
01:13 Kevin Frazier joins us from outside Matthew's LA home.
01:16 A much different scene than what you saw there
01:17 on Saturday, Kev.
01:19 Yeah, Nichelle, we were here moments after the news broke.
01:22 And at the time, it was police cars and chaos.
01:25 Today, a memorial outside Matthew's gate,
01:27 also in New York, outside the fictional
01:29 Friends apartment building in lower Manhattan.
01:32 Now, the investigation into Matthew's death continues.
01:34 But for those who loved him,
01:36 there's an overwhelming outpouring of grief.
01:38 (somber music)
01:41 I'm always drawn to characters
01:44 that start off from a somewhat broken place.
01:47 I think it was just magic was happening.
01:50 There was just the perfect casting, the perfect writers,
01:53 and just sort of magic just all happened at once.
01:57 Hi, we're here for entertainment tonight
01:58 with television's Courtney Cox
02:00 and television's David Schwimmer.
02:01 And it was funny.
02:03 Pivot!
02:04 (audience laughing)
02:06 Pivot!
02:07 (audience laughing)
02:09 Pivot!
02:10 Shut up, shut up, shut up!
02:12 It was just funny all the way through, all 237 episodes.
02:17 Here's the latest on Matthew's death.
02:19 Authorities have conducted an autopsy on the actor's body,
02:22 but the results are inconclusive
02:24 as they wait for more test results,
02:25 including toxicology, which could take weeks.
02:28 Foul play is not suspected.
02:30 According to one report,
02:32 no illicit drugs were found at the house,
02:34 but multiple outlets citing sources
02:36 say there were various prescription medications recovered,
02:39 which will be part of the review.
02:41 How did you get the courage
02:42 to fight the addiction to Vicodin?
02:44 You get into a place in your life
02:46 where you're having a problem
02:47 and you either lie down about it
02:49 or step up to bat and take your swing.
02:54 Agent 23, Rescue 23, you're missing an item on the radio.
02:56 Respond to the drowning.
02:57 At around 4 p.m. Saturday,
02:59 the 54-year-old was discovered unresponsive
03:02 in a hot tub here at his L.A. home.
03:04 Eerily, just a week ago,
03:06 Matthew posted this pic of himself in a hot tub
03:09 in what appears to be the same location where he was found.
03:12 Just around 7.30, Matthew's stepfather, Keith Morrison,
03:16 arrived with other family members.
03:18 Keith, a correspondent for Dateline NBC,
03:20 was seen crossing the police tape
03:22 and speaking to Matthew's grief-stricken father,
03:25 John Bennett Perry.
03:26 The TV journalist became Matthew's stepfather
03:28 when he was 12 years old.
03:30 What's the best perk about being Matthew's stepdad?
03:33 He is really a very good guy.
03:36 Had a chance to speak to one of Matthew's neighbors.
03:39 A young man named Theo said right around 4.30
03:42 he saw police activity and then an ambulance.
03:45 No, they didn't hammer the door, not at all.
03:46 I was very heartbroken to see what happened.
03:48 Matthew was last seen out nine days ago,
03:51 grabbing a meal with a friend.
03:52 His last big public outing
03:54 was at the French Open four months ago.
03:56 Matthew loved tennis, but it turned his focus to pickleball.
03:59 Pickleball, I think, was an outlet for him.
04:03 It was something that he became obsessed with,
04:05 and that was his new healthy addiction, and he loved it.
04:10 ET has learned Matthew was playing pickleball
04:13 hours before his death.
04:15 I spoke to his coach, Matt Manassi.
04:17 What was Matthew's mindset these last few months?
04:21 He was in good spirits every time I talked to him.
04:23 Yeah, you have to be in shape to play pickleball.
04:26 How was Matthew doing physically?
04:28 It seems like he really had turned a corner.
04:31 Yeah, he was heading in a great direction,
04:32 and he was set to become healthy, and he was doing it.
04:37 His dealings with addictions were very well publicized.
04:40 He would bring other people to the courts sometimes
04:43 that were going through similar things
04:44 and try to use pickleball to help them as well.
04:47 If you had one more message to Matt, what would it be?
04:51 Oof.
04:52 I miss him, and I'd like to talk to him one more time.
04:57 Yeah.
04:59 What would you tell him?
05:00 Just that thanks for being a very good friend.
05:04 That's it.
05:07 The tributes continue to pour in
05:09 for Matthew's friends' family.
05:11 So handsome.
05:13 You're a beautiful mom.
05:15 I've been very touched this morning and yesterday.
05:19 I spoke with Morgan Fairchild today.
05:21 She remembers her TV son as a kind soul
05:24 who battled through his own addiction to help others.
05:27 Did you ever have a chance to discuss that with him?
05:31 I didn't discuss it with him
05:33 because at the time I was on the set
05:35 when he was going through it, I knew there were problems.
05:38 I never saw it in his work, and I was so proud of him
05:40 for how he'd come through some of these hard times.
05:43 And had turned to trying to help other people.
05:46 I would just say, Matthew, well done, my son, well done.
05:50 Hello.
05:51 Matthew's TV girlfriend, Maggie Wheeler,
05:55 who played Janice, shared,
05:57 "The joy you brought to so many
05:59 "in your too short lifetime will live on."
06:01 Max added an in-memoriam tribute to its reunion episode,
06:05 and the show's co-creators and former exec producer
06:08 tell ET, "This truly is the one where our hearts are broken."
06:12 Matthew was the first friend I made in Los Angeles.
06:16 We were really more like brothers.
06:18 Hank Azaria revealed Matthew was instrumental
06:20 in his own journey to sobriety.
06:23 A lot of us who were close to him
06:25 felt like we lost him to drugs and alcohol a long time ago.
06:29 He documented it all publicly, but it's heartbreaking.
06:33 I know it's gonna help people to talk about it.
06:35 (dramatic music)
06:38 Only hours after his passing,
06:41 the Friends theme played at the LA Kings game,
06:43 where Matthew, an avid hockey fan,
06:45 was often seen in the stands,
06:47 and SNL honored their one-time host.
06:50 This is kind of a dream come true for me,
06:52 to be hosting the show.
06:54 ET was on set with the star back in 1997,
06:57 the same year he completed his first stint in rehab.
07:00 I'm doing great, couldn't be better.
07:02 There's nothing like just getting to go back
07:04 to the job that you love doing to just make you happy,
07:08 so I'm doing great.
07:10 I love working from my apartment.
07:11 Yeah, it's a treat for us all.
07:13 So many memories came pouring back about how kind he was.
07:18 ET also spoke with Matthew's "The Odd Couple" co-star,
07:21 Yvette Nicole Brown,
07:23 who shared his private side that few knew.
07:26 His greatest gift was his heart.
07:28 He lightened loads, you know,
07:30 even in the midst of the heaviness that he was carrying.
07:33 I was gonna say,
07:34 he lightened loads for everyone but himself.
07:36 Yeah, that's what it feels like,
07:38 and I think the saddest thing for me
07:40 in talking to my castmates and other people that knew him,
07:44 I don't know that he ever found peace.
07:49 When we were working with Matthew,
07:50 we had a front row seat to his struggles,
07:55 and we loved him, and we wanted to protect him.
07:58 Working with you has been one of the greatest joys
07:59 of my life. Is that true?
08:00 I really adore you.
08:01 Sorry.
08:04 That was Matthew,
08:06 and that was our relationship.
08:08 He was really lovely.
08:09 His hope and joy was helping others
08:13 to survive what he fought for most of his life.
08:17 (gentle music)
08:20 As for Matthew's friend's role?
08:26 The camera adds 10 pounds.
08:28 So how many cameras are actually on you?
08:30 (audience laughing)
08:31 Chandler was the sarcasm king,
08:33 but did you know he was only supposed
08:35 to be a supporting character?
08:36 Matthew's comedic timing changed all that.
08:39 I will not take this abuse.
08:41 You're right, I'm sorry.
08:42 Once I was a wooden boy, a little wooden boy.
08:45 (audience laughing)
08:47 Matthew, the over/under on how many times today
08:49 you're gonna hear, could you be any more excited?
08:52 How many times are you gonna hear that?
08:53 Could we be more white trash?
08:54 Could she be more out of my league?
08:56 Could I be more sorry?
08:58 I've heard that a lot.
08:59 I've heard that a lot, but I like hearing that.
09:01 E.T. first crashed the iconic set in '94,
09:04 just a few months after they started filming.
09:06 You in France, in America?
09:08 Yeah, I'm pretty much sick of everybody by now.
09:10 You got the key to the bathroom?
09:11 You have the key to the bathroom?
09:12 17 years later, not much had changed.
09:15 Shut up over there!
09:16 You shut up!
09:17 We sat down with the gang in 2021
09:19 for their reunion on "Max,"
09:21 our final interview with Maddie.
09:23 It's a very loving, tight-knit group.
09:26 And when we see each other,
09:28 it's a very heartwarming thing.
09:30 Should we get some coffee?
09:32 Sure.
09:34 Okay.
09:35 Where?
09:35 It was in our DNA that we were family,
09:37 we were going to take care of each other.
09:40 After the show wrapped, this crew remained close.
09:43 Lisa wrote a heartfelt forward for Matthew's 2022 memoir,
09:47 explaining even they weren't privy
09:48 to all of his addiction struggles.
09:50 Quote, "He has survived impossible odds,
09:52 "but I had no idea how many times he almost didn't make it."
09:56 We weren't equipped.
09:57 Nobody had ever dealt with that.
10:01 Jen actually played a major role
10:03 in Matthew's journey to sobriety.
10:05 She says, "We know you were drinking."
10:08 Yeah, imagine how scary a moment that was.
10:11 She was the one that reached out the most.
10:14 You know, I'm really grateful to her for that.
10:17 It was only last year that fans began to understand
10:20 the scope of Matthew's secret struggle,
10:22 thanks to his tell-all book
10:24 and his sit-down with Diane Sawyer.
10:26 55, like, in a day, which is where I was.
10:29 I would go to open houses and go to the bathrooms
10:33 in the open house and see what pills they had in there
10:38 and steal them.
10:39 And I think they thought,
10:41 well, there's no way that Chandler came in
10:43 and stole from us.
10:45 You can track the trajectory of my addiction
10:47 if you gauge my weight from season to season.
10:51 When I'm carrying weight, it's alcohol.
10:53 When I'm skinny, it's pills.
10:55 That's a guy that's out of control.
10:58 I didn't know what was going on with me.
11:01 I weighed 155 pounds.
11:05 On my way to 128 pounds.
11:08 Matthew spent nearly $9 million trying to get sober,
11:11 attended 6,000 AA meetings, went to rehab 15 times,
11:16 survived 14 surgeries, and was even in a coma for two weeks
11:20 during the summer of 2018.
11:22 Escaped death really narrowly.
11:27 But just how much did Matthew devote his life
11:29 to helping others?
11:30 I invested $500,000 and turned my house in Malibu
11:35 into a sober living place called Perry House.
11:38 Matthew set up meditation programs
11:40 and a 12-step workshop inside his former Malibu mansion.
11:43 The star championed others in their recovery,
11:46 and in 2015, Lisa Kudrow helped honor him for his work.
11:50 Very meaningful to me that Lisa agreed to do it.
11:52 It's a really special relationship.
11:55 Matthew really wanted his struggle
11:57 to be part of his legacy.
11:58 He was the friend that knew what the darkness was like
12:01 and shared it so others wouldn't feel so alone.
12:04 When I die, I don't want friends to be the first thing
12:08 that's mentioned.
12:09 The best thing about me, bar none,
12:12 is if somebody comes up to me and says,
12:13 I can't stop drinking.
12:15 Can you help me?
12:16 I can say yes.
12:17 I'm going to live the rest of my life proving that.
12:20 God is always there for me now.
12:23 The one thing I got right was that I never gave up.
12:26 Love always wins.
12:27 I'm going to use the cushion.
12:33 Yeah.
12:35 David Truman came into my dressing room
12:37 when we were about to renegotiate, and he said,
12:40 I think we should negotiate together.
12:42 And I said, great, idiot.
12:45 Matthew Perry made many big reveals in his memoir,
12:48 including a few Hollywood romances.
12:51 In 1993, just before Friends debuted,
12:54 he spent the summer with a future Oscar winner.
12:56 This was the last summer of my life
12:58 when I could make out at a party
13:00 with a beautiful young woman called Gwyneth.
13:02 We slipped off into a broom cupboard and made out.
13:06 Paltrow reminisced in a tribute to Matthew,
13:08 writing, "It was a magical summer."
13:11 Nearly three years later,
13:12 he'd date one of the Friends guest stars, Julia Roberts.
13:15 Why don't you call me in 20 years
13:17 and tell me if you're still upset about this?
13:19 (audience laughing)
13:21 I was not enough.
13:22 I could never be enough.
13:24 I was broken, bent, unlovable.
13:26 So instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her,
13:31 I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts.
13:35 Another one that got away,
13:36 getting to star opposite Meryl Streep.
13:39 Oh.
13:40 Being in Don't Look Up didn't work out
13:42 because my life was on fire.
13:43 I got CPR, and the guy who saved my life
13:48 broke eight ribs.
13:50 With the broken ribs, there was no way I could continue.
13:53 Apparently on the set, she was like, "Matthew?
13:56 "Where are you?"
13:57 Wow.
13:58 She missed me.
13:59 Does she now know, is this how she's learning what happened?
14:00 It's a completely made up story.
14:02 (audience laughing)
14:03 His comedic timing was unmatched.
14:05 All right, there were other roles that came Matthew's way,
14:07 and of course, E.T. was on set.
14:10 Okay, Matthew L. Perry.
14:12 So have you seen the sights?
14:14 E.T. first met Matthew in 1988
14:17 after landing his first big TV role
14:18 in the short-lived Fox series, Boys Will Be Boys.
14:21 It's about an all-American guy, and it's epic.
14:24 It's epic.
14:25 While that show was canceled after one season,
14:27 that same year, he starred alongside Christina Applegate
14:30 in the TV movie, Dance 'Til Dawn.
14:32 We're losers.
14:34 Well, you know, I bought you that ring.
14:36 It's a good chance for people to see my work.
14:39 Matthew also had minor roles in classic sitcoms
14:42 like Charles in Charge, Silver Spoons, and Growing Pains.
14:45 Well, I go here, sophomore.
14:48 By 1990, Matthew was still full of hope and ready for fame
14:51 after being cast as Valerie Bertinelli's brother
14:53 in the CBS sitcom, Sydney.
14:56 Oh, I can see you're doing a sexy look, okay.
14:58 My sexy look?
14:59 (laughing)
15:00 I scream, okay?
15:01 You happy?
15:02 Scream!
15:03 Here's my shot for people to know who I am, I guess.
15:05 Of course, that wouldn't come until Friends.
15:07 That success led Matt to his first big screen role.
15:10 He was the leading man opposite Salma Hayek
15:13 in Fools Rush In, and E.T. was on the 1996 set.
15:16 Take one, marker.
15:18 Seem like a guy that is a little bit different
15:21 than the guy I play on Friends.
15:23 You know, it's nice to actually get the girl.
15:25 You've seen Salma, have you?
15:27 Today, Salma posted she will, quote,
15:29 "Continue to cherish your silliness,
15:31 "your perseverance, and your lovely heart."
15:34 In 2000, Matthew co-starred with Bruce Willis
15:37 in The Whole Nine Yards.
15:38 Frankie told me what a stand-up guy you've been.
15:41 (upbeat music)
15:43 Now change your pants.
15:44 Their friendship led to Bruce's Emmy-winning appearance
15:46 on Friends, which he only agreed to after losing a bet.
15:50 Let's see how this movie turns out.
15:52 If it does well, you can be on the show,
15:53 and if it doesn't, it's Bruce Willis to block.
15:55 (laughing)
15:57 Joey?
15:57 Hi, Ross.
16:01 (laughing)
16:02 After Friends came to an end in 2004,
16:04 Matthew made his series return
16:06 in the Aaron Sorkin drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
16:10 I'm an executive producer, too.
16:11 I'm just here for this interview.
16:13 That's how excited I am about this,
16:14 and you, and Studio 60.
16:17 Then there was the TV comedy Mr. Sunshine,
16:19 which he created.
16:20 Yeah, I guess that's just something I can't do.
16:23 We're all just trying to put on a really funny show.
16:27 While Matthew's Friends never appeared
16:28 on any of his series, he reunited
16:30 with his TV wife, Courtney Cox, in 2013,
16:33 making a cameo on Cougar Town.
16:35 I'm just passing through on my way to Miami.
16:38 I just have to keep remembering
16:39 that I don't know him in this show.
16:42 She's right, we have to remember
16:43 that we haven't been married for five years.
16:46 But I guess that's what acting is.
16:47 I'm not gonna miss you helping me out with money.
16:52 The only thing that I'm gonna miss is you.
16:56 Through Friends, Matthew Perry left his mark
17:00 on pop culture, and despite battling his own demons,
17:03 he provided joy and laughs for all who worked with him,
17:07 watched him, and loved him.
17:09 Rest easy, Matthew, and good night, everyone.
17:12 You just have to basically throw yourself
17:15 into the work and keep a good head about it.
17:17 This is harder than I thought it would be.
17:19 It's gonna be okay.
17:21 It really feels like home.
17:22 Like, we'll never have that again.
17:23 Like, we'll, you know, I'll never have that again.
17:26 And we keep reminding each other, like, remember this,
17:28 'cause we're not gonna find this again.
17:30 If one of us bumped into each other,
17:32 that was it, that was the end of the night.
17:34 You just--
17:35 Sat with that person.
17:36 Sat with the person.
17:37 You apologized to the people you were with,
17:39 but they had to understand you had met somebody special
17:43 to you, and you were gonna talk to that person
17:45 for the rest of the night.
17:46 I would like to be remembered as somebody
17:53 who lived well, loved well,
17:57 and his paramount thing is that he wants to help people.
18:02 That's what I want.
18:05 (audience applauding)
18:08 (chimes tinkling)
18:11 (bells chiming)
18:13 [BLANK_AUDIO]