Matthew Perry’s wedding scene in Friends was a bittersweet moment for his family, as they feared the actor might never experience marriage and fatherhood himself because of his long-running struggle with addiction.
The late actor’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, has spoken about watching his character Chandler Bing marry Monica Geller, played by Courteney Cox, 62, in the sitcom’s seventh-season finale in 2001.
In an interview with People published on Wednesday (21.10.26), Mia reflected on the family’s concerns about Matthew’s health and his hopes for a family of his own.
Her comments come ahead of the Netflix documentary The One About Matthew Perry, scheduled for release on 27 October, almost three years after his death at 54.
Mia told People: “When we saw that wedding, we all knew that he had wanted that in life; he wanted a partner and he wanted children.”
She added: “We all knew how serious his disorder was, so there was this sense of, ‘Who knows what’s going to happen?’”
Matthew played Chandler throughout the 10-season run of Friends, which aired from 1994 to 2004 and became one of television’s most successful sitcoms.
The character’s relationship with Monica developed from a secret romance into a marriage, with their wedding forming the centrepiece of the two-part episode The One with Monica and Chandler’s Wedding.
Matthew, who never married or had children, described his struggles with alcohol and prescription drugs in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
In the book, he revealed that he returned to addiction treatment immediately after filming the wedding sequence.
He wrote he was “driven back to the treatment center… in a pickup truck helmed by a sober technician”.
The actor also described how his changing physical appearance during Friends reflected different periods of substance misuse.
He wrote: “When I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills. When I have a goatee, it’s lots of pills.”
Matthew disclosed by the end of the programme’s third season, he was attempting to obtain 55 Vicodin tablets a day to avoid becoming “so sick”.
Friends also starred Jennifer Aniston, 57, as Rachel Green, Lisa Kudrow, 63, as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc, 59, as Joey Tribbiani and David Schwimmer, 59, as Ross Geller.
The six actors reunited for the television special Friends: The Reunion in 2021, two years before Matthew’s death.
Outside the sitcom, Matthew appeared in films including Fools Rush In, The Whole Nine Yards and 17 Again, as well as the television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
His personal relationships also attracted attention during his career.
He was romantically linked to Gwyneth Paltrow, 54, and Julia Roberts, 58, during the 1990s, and dated Mean Girls actor Lizzy Caplan, 44, from 2006 to 2012.
In November 2020, Matthew announced his engagement to literary manager Molly Hurwitz. However, the couple separated approximately six months later.
In a statement issued through his representative at the time, Matthew said: “Sometimes things just don’t work out, and this is one of them. I wish Molly the best.”
He later described the circumstances of the proposal in his memoir, admitting he had been under the influence of drugs.
Matthew wrote he was “high as a kite” when he proposed.
He added: “I didn’t remember – needless to say, we broke up.”
Matthew died on 28 October 2023 after being found unresponsive in the hot tub at his Los Angeles home.
The medical examiner determined the primary cause of death was the acute effects of ketamine. Drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine were listed as contributing factors.
The investigation into his death led to criminal charges against five people, including his longtime personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, 61, and drug dealer Jasveen Sangha, 42, who was known as the “Ketamine Queen”.
In April 2026, Jasveen was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges including distributing ketamine that resulted in death or serious bodily injury.