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Marta Kauffman, co-creator of Friends recently commented on actor Matthew Perry's legacy. In an interview published by The Times on August 16, Kauffman talked about how she would like the late actor to be remembered.
"Two things come to mind [about how to celebrate him]: one of them is to contribute to drug treatment facilities – let’s inure the illness. And the second way is to watch Friends and remember him not as a man who died like that but as a man who was hilariously funny and brought joy to everybody," Marta Kauffman said.
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Matthew Perry, the iconic Chandler Bing on Friends, died on October 28, 2023, from a drug overdose as a result of an alleged accident.
Marta Kauffman and other Friends creators talk about Matthew Perry
During the Interview, Kauffman also divulged her personal encounters with Perry, noting that she saw him for the last time two weeks before his demise and he seemed jovial.
“He is the one I had the most contact with. About two weeks before [he died] he and I were FaceTiming and he seemed really good," Kauffman remembered.
The same opinion was expressed by the other co-creator of Friends like David Crane. Crane said they began asking if Perry wanted to leave the show when they became aware of his alchohol problems. Perry, however, was sure that he should remain where he was.
But instead of taking the business proposal, Crane said to him: ‘Do you want to stop [being in the show]?’ "And he was adamantly like: ‘No’ was the most common response; followed by ‘No, this is really important to me.’
After Matthew Perry’s death, Marta Kauffman, Crane, and the executive producer Kevin Bright released a statement to Entertainment Weekly saying were still reeling from the tragedy.
“It still seems so unbelievable – but all we can say is that we are grateful for having known him. Since the day he first premiered as Chandler Bing, there couldn’t be anyone else in that role for us," the joint statement read.
The statement further highlighted Perry's personal qualities:
“We will always love and remember him as the joy, the light, the blinding intelligence that he was in every aspect of life – in his work and beyond Perry was the funniest man we knew; but, more than that, he was the best man we knew: so generous, so kind.”
Speaking of the 2021 Friends reunion special, in an interview with Today, Marta Kauffman mentioned her concern for Perry during the show, having earlier surgeries and opioid dependency.
“Given that he has been through all of what he has been through and every time that he undergoes surgery, they prescribe opioids for pain and the cycle recommences. Being worried about what fragment of the cycle he was [in] in that moment."
Legal developments made in Matthew Perry's death case
The recent events in the death of Perry have witnessed five people facing charges associated with the death.
On August 15, the Department of Justice unveiled legal charges against Dr. Salvador Plascencia, Dr. Mark Chavez, Perry’s personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, Erik Fleming, and Jasveen Sangha, known as “the Ketamine Queen”, claiming that those people targeted and took advantage of the singer’s problems with drug dependency with the purpose of charging her large sums of money.
“These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves," United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in his condemnatory remarks.
Perry's stepfather Keith Morrison said he hoped for justice in a statement to PEOPLE after the arrests.
"We were, and still are, heartbroken by Matthew’s death but at least it has been a comfort to know that law enforcement has taken the matter very seriously. We hope that the unscrupulous suppliers of dangerous drugs got the message.”
As the legal proceedings continue, Marta Kauffman’s call to focus on Perry's positive impact serves as a reminder to celebrate his enduring legacy through his work and charitable actions.
