Lauren Graham Remembers Matthew Perry, Says It Was a ‘Really Happy Year for Him’

Lauren Graham is opening up about the death of her close friend and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip co-star, Matthew Perry,

While on CBS Mornings, Graham discussed with Gayle King the profound impact Perry had on her life and the memories she’ll cherish. The Gilmore Girls actress reflected with a mix of sorrow and joy, stating, “No one made me laugh as hard. I mean, just tears streaming. There was just so much joy being around him and being his friend.”

The conversation naturally turned to Perry’s recent literary success with his book, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, a source of pride and happiness for the late actor. 

“This last year, he was so proud of the book he wrote and of how many people it touched,” Graham shared. “It was a success that gave him a level of happiness. I hadn’t seen in him in a really long time, so that’s a nice memory.”

Perry shared a sweet photo of Graham in his 2022 memoir. “Me and the beautiful Lauren Graham,” he captioned the photo of the actress resting her head on his shoulder.

The Parenthood alum — who was on CBS Mornings to promote her latest book, Have I Told You This Already? — was one of the few faces Perry decided to incorporate into his memoir. 

When asked if she was shocked by the Friends star’s death, Graham replied, “Completely. I’m still in shock. It’s just a really tragic loss, and he leaves his beautiful work behind, and that’s something to be thankful for. Again, the book really meant something to him, so it was a really happy year for him.”

Graham gushed over Perry in her 2016 memoir, Talking As Fast As I Can.

“The only bright spot, dude-wise, was at an event where I met Matthew Perry,” she wrote while referencing a period in her life when she was single. “He became my longtime Friend Who I Almost But Never Exactly Dated, or FWIABNED.”

Perry and Graham first worked alongside each other in Aaron Sorkin’s short-lived series, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. They went on to co-star in 2008’s Birds of America and reunited on-camera in one episode of Perry’s The Odd Couple, which ran from 2015 to 2017.

Perry died at his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28. He was 54. The Los Angeles Fire Department reported that the actor was found unconscious in a stand-alone jacuzzi, and despite efforts to revive him, he was declared deceased before first responders arrived. An initial autopsy by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner was inconclusive, pending a toxicology report for confirmation of the cause of death.

Perry’s illustrious Hollywood career spanned decades, with his most notable role being Chandler Bing on Friends from 1994 to 2004. This week, all of his Friends co-stars, including Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc, have paid tribute to him on their social media accounts following his private funeral service on Nov. 3, which they all attended. 

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