How Matthew Perry said he wanted to be remembered – and it WASN’T as beloved Friends star

• As tributes pour in for Matthew Perry, many are sharing video of the Friends actor talking about how he wanted to be remembered 
• He wanted to be know as a helpful person who tried his best to get others to break free of addiction
• READ MORE: DailyMail.com coverage of Matthew Perry’s death 

The late Matthew Perry didn’t want to be remembered first for his role in Friends but for how he supported others who also experienced substance abuse. 

‘Best thing about me- bar none- is if somebody comes up to me and says, “I can’t stop drinking, can you help me?” I can say yes and follow up and do it, that’s the best thing,’ Perry said in a resurfaced video on X. 

‘And I’ve said this for a long time, when I die, I don’t want Friends to be the first thing that’s mentioned.’

Perry added: ‘I want that to be the first thing that’s mentioned, and I’m going to live the rest of my life proving that.’ 

Footage of Perry talking about how he wanted to be remembered has been shared across social media in the wake of the actor’s untimely death on Saturday.  

In a video that resurfaced to social media Matthew Perry revealed that he wanted to be remembered for the help he gave to others instead of just his work on Friends

Perry was mainly known for his role as Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom Friends. He played a funny sarcastic character who married Monica, played by Courtney Cox 

An excerpt from his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Things revealed that Perry also wrote a play that was inspired by his addiction struggles and that he knew Friends would be what people knew him for the most

In 2013, Perry even turned his Malibu mansion into as sober living facility for men and named it ‘Perry’s House.’

In another post to X, an excerpt from Perry’s memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Things revealed Perry also wrote a play that was inspired by his addiction struggles. 

‘I also wrote my play The End of Longing, which is a personal message to the world, an exaggerated form of me as a drunk,’ Perry said. 

‘I had something important to say to people like me, and to people who love people like me.’ 

Though he was happy to have made an impact on the hit 90s sitcom, he made it clear that he wanted Friends to be listed ‘far behind’ on his list of accomplishments. 

‘I know it won’t happen, but it would be nice,’ he said at the end of the shared excerpt.  

Perry died at the age of 54 on Saturday afternoon of an accidental ‘drowning’ in his jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home. Police found prescription pills at the home, but no illegal drugs, sources said. 

In his last post to his Instagram, posted earlier this week, the star shared images of him in his pool

Last year, he published a memoir titled ‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir’ 

Just the other week Perry delighted fans by sharing a social media post of him and his father, seen here 

Perry had reportedly played a two-hour game of Pickleball – a sport similar to tennis but played on a smaller court – earlier in the day, before sending his assistant out on an errand. When they returned, Perry was said to be found unresponsive in his hot tub. 

Hours after his death, Perry’s mother, father and stepdad arrived at his LA home looking grief-stricken. 

Police cornered off the scene and a white tent had been put up in his backyard next to the swimming pool and hot tub. 

His body was taken from his house by the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office hours after his death.  

Perry rose to fame in his role as ‘Chandler Bing’ on the hit 90s sitcom Friends, which ran for ten seasons. 

He had just recently posted a picture of him and his father John Bennett Perry who joined him on a Friends episode in 1998. 

He was born in Massachusetts and raised in Canada by his mother Suzanne Marie after his parents divorced when he was one-year-old. 

Perry was a natural fit for the role of Chandler, beloved for his sarcastic one-liners, and many of his mannerisms grew from the actor’s own behavior.

Staff from the Los Angeles coroners’ office conclude their work at the house

The 82-year-old was later joined by Perry’s mom, Suzanne (left), and stepdad Keith Morrison (right) who appeared morose as they pulled up to the home

Perry ‘s father, 82, was seen arriving at his son’s LA home looking stricken just hours after the Friends star’s death. Sources said he was found in a jacuzzi at the home but that no drugs were discovered at the scene – and there was no indication of foul play

He said in his memoir: ‘It was as if someone had followed me around for a year, stealing my jokes, copying my mannerisms, photocopying my world-weary yet witty view of life. One character in particular stood out to me: it wasn’t that I thought I could ‘play’ Chandler. I ‘was’ Chandler.’

Perry later revealed that when he was first cast in the sitcom at the age of 24, that is when his alcohol addiction really came to light. 

He said years later that by the end of the 10th series of the hit show, he became ‘entrenched in a lot of trouble.’ 

In a 2016 he admitted that he didn’t remember three seasons of filming because he was a ‘little out of it at the time’.

At one point during his time on Friends, Perry said he was taking 55 Vicodin painkillers a day and was down to 128lb but yet he ‘didn’t know how to stop.’

Following his sudden death many took to social media and gave tribute to the late actor, specifically for his role as Chandler in Friends. 

Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada attended school with Perry when he lived in the country and wrote a touching post about him. 

Perry also starred in several films including 17 Again starring Zac Efron, Fools Rush In with Salma Hayek, and Getting In with comedian Dave Chapelle

Law enforcement sources said the actor was found on Saturday at a home in Los Angeles. He is seen here earlier last week

‘Matthew Perry’s passing is shocking and saddening. I’ll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play, and I know people around the world are never going to forget the joy he brought them. 

‘Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed,’ Trudeau said. 

Warner Bros, which produced Friends, said in a statement: ‘We are devastated to learn of Matthew Perry’s passing. He was a true gift to us all. Our heart goes out to his family, loved ones, and all of his fans.’ 

After moving to LA, Perry starred as Chazz Russell in Boys Will Be Boys and also had roles in shows including sitcom Growing Pains before becoming a global superstar as Chandler.

‘This was the only guy to play him,’ creator of Friends Marta Kauffman said in the 2021 reunion special. 

The star laid bare the height of his terrible drug and alcohol addiction battle which nearly cost him his life in a memoir titled ‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir’.  

Perry also revealed that his colon ruptured as a result of his opioid addiction when he was 49.

Doctors gave him only a two percent chance of survival and he was in a coma for two weeks followed by months more in the hospital.

Perry required 14 surgeries to help repair all of the abdominal damage, and he admitted to having gone to rehab 15 times over the years in hopes of kicking his drug addiction. 

His Friends co-star Maggie Wheeler mourned the loss of her former on-screen boyfriend, whose character dated his from the show’s second season to third.

Former costar to perry, Maggie Wheeler (pictured) mourned his loss.  Her character was known for being the his on-screen boyfriend, and her nasally voice as she screamed her catchphrase: ‘Oh my God’

Friends was a huge global hit as it ran for 10 seasons between 1994 and 2004

Chandler Bing’s ‘bromance’ with roommate Joey Tribbiani was hugely popular among fans

‘What a loss. The world will miss you Mathew Perry,’ she captioned the image, which showed her looking at him adoringly as she portrayed her character, Janice Litman-Goralnik. 

Perry also starred in several films including 17 Again starring Zac Efron, Fools Rush In with Salma Hayek, and Getting In with comedian Dave Chapelle.

He featured in The Whole Nine Yards, and The Kid with Bruce Willis – who was a guest star in the sixth series of Friends.

Perry never married and ended his engagement to Molly Hurwitz, a talent manager, in 2021.

He dated several well-known actresses including Julia Roberts and Lizzy Caplan.

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