Matthew Perry’s five Friends co-stars were invited to participate in Netflix’s new documentary about his life but declined, according to a source familiar with the production.
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer were all approached about The One About Matthew Perry, Page Six reported.
The three-part series instead features Perry’s family, longtime friends and people who knew him through different periods of his life.
The documentary premieres Oct. 27, one day before the third anniversary of Perry’s death, with his younger sister Mia Perry Bowick giving her first on-camera interview about him.
Aniston Reportedly Did Not Want to Grieve Perry So Publicly
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Aniston remained close to Perry after Friends ended and has remembered him publicly several times since his death.
On the first anniversary in October 2024, she shared photographs of Perry on Instagram alongside a brief tribute and tagged the Matthew Perry Foundation.
The source who spoke to Page Six said participating in the Netflix series would have required Aniston to revisit his life and death in a much more extensive way on camera, something she did not want to do publicly.
The report does not attribute the same explanation to Perry’s other four Friends co-stars. Page Six’s source said only that all five had been contacted and decided not to participate.
Mia Perry Bowick Is Speaking About Her Brother on Camera for the First Time
Netflix says Bowick’s testimony anchors the documentary alongside Perry’s lifelong friends and previously unreleased photographs and videos from the family’s private archive.
“It’s taken time for me to feel ready to share these memories and what it was like to love Matthew through all the complexity of his life,” Bowick said in Netflix’s announcement.
She said she hopes viewers come away seeing her brother as a whole person rather than only as Chandler Bing or through his struggles with addiction.
The interview is the first time Bowick has spoken about Perry on camera. Netflix also identifies Roger Castillo and David Pressman, both friends of Perry for more than 40 years, among the people interviewed for the series.
The Series Includes Friends, Collaborators and People From Perry’s Recovery Work
Other participants include director Jonathan Lynn, who worked with Perry on The Whole Nine Yards, and actor Nate Torrence, his co-star on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Mr. Sunshine.
Tim Harrington, who met Perry at a recovery meeting in 2001, and West Huddleston, who worked with him on drug court advocacy, also appear.
The series includes Evelyn Sallinger, whom Perry met in rehab in 2017, and a woman identified by Netflix as Rome, an actor who had an on-and-off relationship and friendship with Perry beginning in 2011.
Former U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada is interviewed about the federal criminal case connected to Perry’s death.
Perry’s Sister Says He Spent $7 Million Trying to Get Sober
The trailer moves between Perry’s success as Chandler, his private life and the addiction he discussed openly during his lifetime.
Bowick says her brother spent approximately $7 million trying to achieve sobriety. Entertainment Weekly also reported the figure from the trailer, while Perry had previously written extensively about treatment and recovery in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
Director Mary Robertson said the filmmakers wanted people who knew Perry personally to describe the man beyond his public image. The series also covers his advocacy for people dealing with addiction and his work on drug court reform.
PEOPLE reported that the documentary combines those interviews with private family material and archival footage from Perry’s career.
‘The One About Matthew Perry’ Premieres Oct. 27
Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023, at age 54. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled his death accidental and identified the acute effects of ketamine as the primary cause.
Netflix describes The One About Matthew Perry as its first in-depth documentary about the actor. The three episodes cover his Hollywood career, addiction, recovery advocacy and relationships with people who knew him outside his most famous television role.
The series is directed by Emmy winner Mary Robertson and produced by Maxine Productions, part of Sony Pictures Television.