Minnie Driver mourns deceased Matthew Perry: ‘He made people feel good’
Minnie driver has nothing but fond memories of her former costar Matthew Perry.
The 53-year-old driver met Perry, who died in October, when they both appeared in a London stage production of Sexual Perversity in Chicago. She collected her thoughts on his legacy in an emotional essay for The guard.
“When we first rehearsed [the play], I wanted to talk to him properly. I went to lunch with my family and I remember calling him and saying, ‘Do you mind meeting us?’ And he was so easy about it,” the actress wrote in an article posted on Monday, December 18. “The restaurant put us in the back, away from the people, but when he walked in… the whole place lit up. The whole place smiled.”
The driver noticed that the Friends alum was “so sweet” to her family before they bonded over the “vulnerability” of performing on stage. “It’s funny when you bond over fear, but we did that that summer,” she added.
Stars mourn Matthew Perry after his death
Celebrities are mourning the loss of actor Matthew Perry following his death at the age of 54. Perry died on Saturday, October 28 from an apparent drowning. Police responded to a call of someone in cardiac arrest at a Los Angeles home where they reportedly found the actor. unconscious in a jacuzzi. Ian Ziering, who worked with […]
During their summer together across the pond, Driver and Perry hung out during rehearsal, bonding over tennis and enjoying ice cream in Hyde Park.
“Matthew was one of the fastest people you would ever meet, brutally funny in the way he responded to people,” Driver wrote. “He didn’t let you get away with anything. Invariably I would tell very long stories and he would always do this brilliantly timed bit where he would fall asleep halfway through – so funny – but he was not mean in any way. He was the most self-deprecating person and very kind. He would help anyone who asked him for help.”
On October 28, news broke that Perry had died at the age of 54. Local law enforcement officers had found the actor unconscious in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. Two months later, the county medical examiner confirmed that Perry died from “the acute effects of ketamine.” Drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine (commonly used to treat opioid use disorder) were also listed as contributing factors.
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Although it is not known why Perry used ketamine, he had long struggled with addiction and went to rehab twice.
“Ever since Matthew wrote his beautiful book, everyone has known about his struggles with addiction,” Driver wrote Monday, referencing Perry’s 2022 Friends, lovers and the big terrible memoirs. “I found it incredibly difficult to read and had to put it down and pick it up again – it felt unbearable how much he was suffering.”
She added: “He was in a good place when we did the play, but the thing about him was he was like a light. He was one of those people who made other people feel good. Somehow they don’t suck you into their sadness or their pain, and I know now that his pain was great.
Us weekly special edition dedicated to Matthew Perry is available now.