Mia Perry Bowick has shared new details from Matthew Perry’s funeral, revealing that his five surviving Friends co-stars approached his coffin together, holding hands and crying.
Bowick recounts the private service in Netflix’s three-part documentary The One About Matthew Perry, released on October 27. She said taking part felt “cathartic” and offered a chance to present her brother as “a whole person, not just as Chandler, and not just as someone who struggled with addiction.”
How the Friends cast said goodbye
Perry’s funeral took place in November 2023, shortly after his death at the age of 54. Bowick described it as a “very small” gathering attended only by close friends and family.
She was sitting in the front row with relatives when Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow entered together. Bowick said she had not seen them in around 20 years.
“And Jen Aniston was the first one of them to come up to me and give me a huge hug, but they all did,” she recalled.
The actors then made their final farewell to the colleague with whom they had worked from 1994 until 2004.
“All five of them walked up to the casket holding hands, and just stood around him, crying,” Bowick said.
During the service, she also recalled suddenly imagining her brother speaking from behind her right shoulder: “How f**ked up is this?”
The thought made her laugh at what she called “the most horrible moment,” a reaction she felt captured Perry’s habit of using humor when circumstances were at their bleakest. Timing, apparently, remained optional.
What the documentary says about Perry
The series examines Perry’s rise to fame as Chandler Bing, his relationships, career and long struggle with addiction. Alongside Bowick, contributors include his longtime friends Roger Castillo and David Pressman.
Bowick, a psychotherapist, writer and speaker, said her brother spent about $7 million trying to become sober. She described him as struggling with an emptiness or loneliness that he could never entirely overcome.
“That’s how seriously he took his disease,” she said.
She also saw strong similarities between Perry and Chandler. Both, she said, tried to distract people from their unhappiness by being funny.
Perry died in October 2023 after suffering the acute effects of ketamine. His addiction and recovery efforts had been discussed publicly for years, including by the actor himself.
Why the other Friends stars did not appear
Director Mary Robertson said Cox, LeBlanc, Aniston, Schwimmer and Kudrow were invited to participate in the documentary but declined.
“We know the cast of Friends loves Matthew and are grieving in their own ways,” Robertson said. “We did approach them, and they decided not to participate.”
Instead, the production focused on people who knew Perry away from the sitcom and had decades of personal memories to share. Former Friends producer and writer Jeff Strauss participated, while private photographs helped the filmmakers offer a more intimate account of Perry’s years on the show.
Bowick said the project helped her understand her own grief and gave her an opportunity to preserve memories of her brother.
“Matthew had a beautiful heart and a generous spirit, and even in his darkest moments, he could still make you laugh and feel loved,” she said. “I hope this series gives everyone who loved him, whether personally or from afar, a deeper appreciation for who he truly was, and the legacy he leaves behind.”
