FRIEND TO ALL

Matthew Perry’s Real Friends Tell All in Revelatory New Film

The star’s off-screen friends are getting in front of the camera.

Matthew Perry became famous as the fictional friend Chandler Bing; now, his real-life friends are paying tribute to the late actor.

“All great stories have comedy and tragedy in them, and that certainly was Matthew’s story,” Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, said in the trailer for Netflix’s Oct. 27 documentary series, The One About Matthew Perry.

Perry died of a ketamine overdose at age 54 on Oct. 28, 2023, after a lifelong struggle with addiction. He spoke publicly about his battles with alcoholism and drug addiction, even publishing a memoir called Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, where he candidly discussed his history with substance abuse and rehab.

A Sept. 2025 Peacock documentary focused on Perry’s Hollywood “enablers.” After his death, Perry’s live-in assistant, drug counselor, and dealer were all dealt varying prison sentences for their respective complicities in Perry’s overdose.

Netflix’s docuseries turns its attention to Perry’s impact on the people in his life, both as a friend and a comedian.

“My brother would talk about that feeling of emptiness or loneliness that he couldn’t quite fill,” Bowick said. “He spent $7 million trying to get sober. That’s how seriously he took his disease.”

Perry’s friends opened up about more than just his addiction. The documentary features David Pressman, one of Perry’s longtime friends, speaking about Perry’s special gift for making others laugh.

“As Matthew’s buddy for 40 years, he would definitely want everyone to talk about how great he was,” Pressman said. “He meant so much in so many ways. Matthew recognized this as an area where he could make a difference. How funny he was.”

Bowick agreed. “When he made people laugh, it made him feel good,” she said.

Another member of Perry’s inner circle said Perry “saved” his life through his work as a spokesperson for Alcoholics Anonymous.

The trailer shows interviews cut together with clips of Perry on Friends, in interviews, and speaking about his addiction. It also intersperses news clips from when Perry died.

“The world is saying goodbye to a beloved actor and one of our best friends,” a newscaster’s voice said over photographs of informal memorials to Perry in which people left flowers and notes as tribute.

“To have that connection with an audience is a wonderful, sacred thing,” one of Perry’s friends said. “And how we miss him.”

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Dana Herrnstadt Editorial Intern, Obsessed

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