George Clooney says that starring in 'Friends' didn't bring Matthew Perry 'joy or happiness or peace'
Taylor Hill/WireImage; Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic
- George Clooney says that starring in "Friends" didn't bring Matthew Perry "joy or happiness or peace."
- The 62-year-old actor opened up about his friendship with the late Perry in a Deadline interview.
- Clooney added that it was "hard to watch" his friend struggle everyday.
George Clooney says that starring in "Friends" didn't bring his longtime pal Matthew Perry "joy or happiness or peace."
In a new interview with Deadline, the 62-year-old actor opened up about his friendship with Perry, who was found dead in his home in late October.
Clooney said they had known each other since Perry was 16 years old, and added that the late "Friends" actor always spoke about his dream of landing a role on a sitcom.
"'I just want to get on a regular sitcom and I would be the happiest man on earth,'" Clooney told Deadline, recalling Perry's words. "And he got on probably one of the best ever. He wasn't happy. It didn't bring him joy or happiness or peace."
The "ER" star added that it was "hard to watch" Perry struggle and that it came as a heartbreaking shock to eventually find out his friend was using opioids every day.
"And it also just tells you that success and money and all those things, it doesn't just automatically bring you happiness," Clooney said. "You have to be happy with yourself and your life."
In an interview with The New York Times in October last year, Perry revealed that he would fake back injuries and migraines just to obtain the 55 Vicodin pills he needed each day.
"When you're a drug addict, it's all math. I go to this place, and I need to take three. And then I go to this place, and I'm going to take five because I'm going to be there longer. It's exhausting but you have to do it or you get very, very sick," Perry told the Times.
The "Friends" actor had been open about his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction in recent years, and even detailed his journey in his 2022 memoir "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing."
Last week, the Los Angeles County Corner's Office ruled that Perry's death was an accident caused by "the acute effects of ketamine."