A new documentary explores the life of late actor Matthew Perry three years after his death. His Friends co-stars shunned appearing in the doc. His sister admitted that he felt pushed to the side during the show’s run. Keep reading for all the details.
Netflix Premieres New Matthew Perry Documentary
Matthew Perry began his acting career when he was just 10. His most known role was Chandler Bing on NBC’s Friends sitcom. The popular show was a pop culture hit and ran for ten seasons. The actor later detailed his shocking drug and alcohol addiction in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. A year later, he would be dead.
The actor was found in the hot tub at his Los Angeles, California, home on October 28, 2023. His death was ruled an accidental overdose from ketamine. However, five people were charged in connection with the drug overdose.
Peacock aired an hour-long episode about Matthew Perry’s drug addiction and tragic death in 2025. But a new Netflix documentary shows another side of the actor. However, none of his Friends co-stars agreed to film for the documentary. Why?
Friends Cast Shun Film, Refuse To Participate
Matthew Perry starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer for a decade. The Friends cast famously banded together to negotiate the exact same salary. They all attended his funeral and shared fond memories. But they drew the line at appearing on camera in Netflix’s The One About Matthew Perry.
The film’s director, Mary Robertson, opened up to the New York Times about the slight. “We know the Friends cast loves Matthew and is grieving Matthew. We did approach them about participation. They decided not to participate,” she told the outlet.
Another source revealed to Page Six that Matthew Perry’s death was still too fresh for the cast. “She isn’t going to sit down and start crying on camera. She doesn’t want to relive it and have it be so public,” the insider said.
Some of the other cast and crew from Friends did sit for interviews for the documentary. The actor’s younger sister, Mia Perry Bowick, spoke out for the first time in the documentary. She shared another side of Matthew Perry that viewers only got a glimpse of on Friends.
However, she also revealed that he felt pushed aside on the sitcom because of the other characters’ popularity. The actor relished Chandler and Monica’s relationship because it gave him a chance to show the character’s more serious side.
Mia Perry Bowick also spoke about reuniting with the Friends cast for the first time in twenty years. She revealed that Jennifer Aniston was the first to approach her, followed by the others. Having Matthew Perry’s co-stars there was a huge comfort.
The One About Matthew Perry is now streaming on Netflix.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger