How Matthew Perry spent his last days before apparent drowning

Hours before his tragic death, Matthew Perry was doing something he had grown to love: playing pickleball. The Friends star – who was found dead in his jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home on October 28 at the age of 54 – had played earlier in the day and, according to his former coach, Matthew Manassehhad been attending court four to five days a week for the past two years.

“It doesn’t seem real,” Manasseh said Us of Perry’s untimely death. Adds a source: “Matthew led a healthy lifestyle. He was [trying to] go back to where he [used] are. When he was on the pickleball court, he was happy.

By most accounts, Perry has been in good spirits in recent months. Amid a decades-long battle with alcohol and drug addiction – which he detailed in his 2022 memoir, Friends, lovers and the big terrible – he worked on getting fit and spent most of his time watching and exercising and hanging out with loved ones.

In a joint statement released on October 29, family members said: “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of our beloved son and brother. Matthew brought so much joy into the world, both as an actor and as a friend. You all meant so much to him and we appreciate the enormous outpouring of love.”

At the time of writing, authorities were awaiting toxicology reports before announcing Perry’s official cause of death.

“Matthew’s greatest pleasures were chilling at home with friends and seeing his family,” says a second source, noting that he had an “extremely close” bond with his parents. “He also went outside and was as active as possible.”

On October 21, he was photographed having lunch with a friend at an iconic LA burger joint, The Apple Pan, and kept fans updated with social media posts. He smiled next to his father, John, in a photo shared to Instagram on October 15.

That same day he texted back and forth with his A night in the life of Jimmy Reardon Co-star Ione Skye. After his death, the actress posted a screenshot of their conservation on Instagram, in which Perry told his longtime friend that he was thinking of her and that he was meditating (“I’m meditating right now,” he wrote).

“Overall,” says the second source, “Matthew did a lot better.”

Perry became famous through Chandler Bing Friends, which ran from 1994 to 2004, was celebrated for its quick wit and biting sarcasm, earning an Emmy nod for the role. He made the jump to films in the late 1990s and early 2000s Fools rush in And The whole nine yards alongside Bruce Willis.

He was one of the biggest stars in the world – and highest paid: towards the end of Friends, Perry and his co-stars took home $1 million per episode. But behind the scenes, his addiction destroyed his life. At his lowest point, he was taking 55 Vicodin a day and weighed just 128 pounds. “I didn’t know how to stop,” he said. “The disease and addiction are progressive, so it gets worse as you get older.”

Perry spared no details when talking about his struggles with alcohol and drug addiction over the years. In Friends, lovers and the big terribleHe recalled spending two months in a coma and five months in the hospital when his colon burst in 2018 due to excessive drug use. He underwent a seven-hour operation and doctors told his relatives he had a two percent chance of survival. “It was almost certain at that moment that I was going to die,” he wrote.

In 2020, he proposed to ex Molly Hurwitz as he stepped on “1,800 milligrams of hydrocodone,” he revealed. “[I was] as high as a kite,” he said in his memoirs. ‘And on one knee. And she knew it too. And she said yes.” (They broke up in June 2021.)

He also admitted to spending “over $7 million” over the years trying to get sober and to 15 stints in rehab — one of which occurred when his on-screen alter ego, Chandler Bing , was about to marry Monica Gellar (played by Courteney Cox). “Not only do I have the disease, but I have it bad,” Perry wrote. “Even on good days, when I’m sober and looking ahead, it’s still with me all the time.”

In 2021, Perry sparked concern after his performance in the Friends reunion special. During the show, his speech seemed slurred and he appeared emotionally vulnerable, even breaking down in tears while discussing the close bond he shared with his castmates.

“People were worried about him because he wasn’t in the best shape during the reunion taping,” a third source reveals, saying the cast and crew are “filled with grief and heartbreak” over the loss. “Of course there was initially a feeling of ‘Could we have done something more for him?’ They are all just incredibly sad.”

“We are all so devastated by the loss of Matthew,” Perry said Friends Costars said in a statement to Us on October 30. “We were more than just castmates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we are going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”

Related: Matthew Perry’s ups and downs through the years

Matthew Perry has never shied away from opening up about his struggles after rising to fame for his role as Chandler Bing in Friends. “When [fame] happens, it looks like Disneyland for a while. For me it took about eight months, the feeling of ‘I did it, I’m happy, there’s no problem in the world.’ […]

The following year, he revealed that he had been mostly sober since 2001, admitting to occasional relapses. The hatching of Friends, lovers and the big terrible had been a cathartic experience for him. “Matthew put his heart and soul into that project and was thrilled when it became a bestseller,” says the second source. “It gave him closure.”

The source says Perry’s main goal with the book was to help others suffering from addiction. (In 2013, the Canadian native converted his former Malibu home into a sober living facility for fellow addicts.)

“The outpouring of positivity he received from fans, friends and colleagues was something that made him feel ten feet tall,” the source said. “He got more satisfaction from that than he ever thought possible.”

At the end of 2022, Perry started working as a podcast host Tom Power and reflected on his life and how he would like to be remembered. “If I die, I know people will talk about it Friends, Friends, Friends. And I’m happy about that, happy that I did a good job as an actor, and that I gave people multiple opportunities to make fun of my struggles on the world wide web,” he said. “But if I die, as far as my so-called achievements go, it would be nice if I did Friends were far behind the things I did to help other people.”