George Clooney says starring on ‘Friends’ doesn’t bring Matthew Perry ‘joy, happiness or peace’

George Clooney said starring on “Friends” has not brought longtime friend Matthew Perry “joy, 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 at his home in late October.

Clooney said they’ve known each other since Perry was 16 years old, adding that the late “Friends” actor always talked about his dream of playing a role in a sitcom.

“I just want to be a regular on a sitcom and I’ll be the happiest man on earth,” Clooney recalled Perry saying. “And he’s probably one of the best ever. He’s not happy. It doesn’t bring him joy or happiness or peace,” Clooney said.
The “ER” star added that it was “difficult to watch” Perry’s struggles and that it was a heartbreaking shock to finally discover his friend was using opioids on a daily basis.

“And it also just tells you that success and money and all that stuff doesn’t automatically bring you happiness,” Clooney said. “You have to be happy with yourself and your life.”

In an interview with The New York Times last October, Perry said he would fake a back injury and migraines just to get the 55 Vicodin pills he needed each day.

“When you’re addicted to drugs, it’s all math. I go to this place and I need to get three pills. Then I go to this place, and I’m going to get five pills because I’ll be there longer. It’s tiring.” tired, but you have to do it, otherwise you’ll get very sick,” Perry told the Times.
The “Friends” actor has been open about his struggles with alcohol and drug addiction in recent years and even detailed his journey in his memoir “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing” published in 2022.

Last week, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office ruled that Perry’s death was an accident caused by the “acute effects of ketamine.”