Matthew Perry’s sister has revealed the heartbreaking moment his five Friends co-stars gathered around his coffin, holding hands and crying as they said their final goodbyes.
The beloved actor, who played Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom for a decade, died in October 2023 aged 54, leaving his family, friends and millions of fans devastated.
Now, nearly three years after his death, his sister Mia Perry Bowick has shared an emotional account of his funeral, including a touching gesture from the five people who spent years playing his closest friends on television.
Speaking in the new Netflix documentary The One About Matthew Perry, Mia recalled seeing Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc arrive together at the intimate service.
‘The funeral was very small, close friends and family only,’ she explained.
‘I remember sitting in the front row with our family and seeing his mom and all the other siblings. And then the rest of the Friends cast all walked in together.’
Despite having not seen the actors in around two decades, Mia said they immediately made her feel embraced.
‘I hadn’t seen them in easily 20 years. And Jen Aniston was the first one of them to come up to me and give me a huge hug, but they all did,’ she recalled.
‘And then all five of them walked up to the casket holding hands, and just stood around him, crying.’
It was a devastating real-life echo of the friendship that audiences had watched unfold over 10 seasons, with the actors coming together one final time as a group of six, albeit under circumstances nobody could have imagined.
Yet amid the overwhelming grief, Mia recalled an unexpected moment of laughter that felt unmistakably like her brother.
She described suddenly sensing Matthew’s presence beside her, imagining him making the sort of wonderfully inappropriate observation that Chandler himself might have delivered.
‘He showed up right behind my right shoulder and goes: “How f***** up is this?” And I started laughing so hard. I was like: “Oh, my God – there he is!”‘
She continued: ‘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***** up”.’
For Mia, it was a moment of comfort in an otherwise unbearable day, a reminder of the brother whose humour had brought so much joy to those around him.
Matthew was found unresponsive in the hot tub at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023, with his death subsequently attributed to the acute effects of ketamine.
His funeral took place six days later at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
Following his death, his former castmates released a joint statement expressing their devastation, explaining that their relationship had extended far beyond their time working together.
‘We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,’ they said.
‘There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.’
Although the five actors were approached about participating in the new documentary, they ultimately declined.
Director Mary Robertson told Page Six that she understood their decision, acknowledging that grief looks different for everyone.
‘I know the Friends actors love Matthew, and grieve Matthew. We did ask them if they would participate, and they decided not to,’ she explained.
‘I think everyone grieves in their own way. And I understand why someone might feel that this isn’t the moment to talk.’
She added that Mia, meanwhile, had chosen to share an account of her brother that was ‘raw and open and vulnerable and powerful and funny’.
Aniston has previously spoken about the lasting pain of losing Matthew, admitting that the cast had long feared receiving news of his death as he struggled with addiction.
In an interview with Elle, she reflected: ‘We miss him. He’s missed. He was a brilliant human being and an extraordinary talent, loved deeply, and wanted happiness more than anything.’
‘It makes me sad that he never really achieved that because he deserved it,’ she added.
The One About Matthew Perry, which explores the actor’s life, addiction struggles and legacy through those who knew him best, was released on Netflix on October 27.