Mark Wahlberg, Matthew Perry, Salma Hayek, George Clooney & Dylan McDermott at Showest '98 in Las Vegas. Photo / FilmMagic, Inc
Mark Wahlberg, Matthew Perry, Salma Hayek, George Clooney & Dylan McDermott at Showest '98 in Las Vegas. Photo / FilmMagic, Inc
George Clooney claims his late pal Matthew Perry “wasn’t happy” during his stint on Friends despite landing his dream job.
The 62-year-old former ER star knew the late actor - who is best known for playing Chandler Bing on the legendary sitcom - from when he was a teenager andthey were often reunited when filming their respective NBC shows on the same soundstage.
“We used to play paddle tennis together. He’s about 10 years younger than me. And he was a great, funny, funny, funny kid.”
Matthew Perry tragically passed away in his Hollywood home on October 28 due to the "acute effects of Ketamine." Photo / Getty Images
Clooney continued: “All he would say to us, I mean me, Richard Kind and Grant Heslov, was, I just want to get on a sitcom, man. I just want to get on a regular sitcom and I would be the happiest man on earth.”
Referring to Perry’s substance abuse, he went on: “And watching that go on on the lot — we were at Warner Brothers, we were there right next to each other — it was hard to watch because we didn’t know what was going through him.
“We just knew that he wasn’t happy and I had no idea he was doing, what, 12 Vicodin a day and all the stuff he talked about, all that heartbreaking stuff. And it also just tells you that success and money and all those things, it doesn’t just automatically bring you happiness.
“You have to be happy with yourself and your life.”
He told People of landing the role: “It changed my life in every way. I got the show when I was a 24-year-old man; the show ended when I was 34. It formed my life. And it was the time of my life.”
