For millions of “Friends” fans, Chandler Bing and Monica Geller’s wedding remains one of the NBC sitcom’s most beloved moments.
But for Matthew Perry’s family, the episode carried deeper emotional significance.
Ahead of Netflix’s upcoming documentary “The One About Matthew Perry,” Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, revealed that the family watched the Season 7 wedding episode with mixed emotions as the actor battled addiction behind the scenes.
Bowick recalled how difficult that time was for those closest to the actor.
“We all knew how serious his disorder was, so there was this sense of, ‘Who knows what’s going to happen?'” she told People. “Watching that wedding, we all knew he wanted that in life. He wanted a partner, he wanted kids.”
Perry never married or had children before his death in October 2023 at age 54. The actor died from the acute effects of ketamine.
While Chandler and Monica got their happy ending on screen, Perry was fresh out of rehab after his drinking and drug use escalated during the show’s run.
Perry later reflected on filming the episode in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” revealing he returned to treatment immediately afterward.
“I married Monica and got driven back to the treatment center, at the height of my highest point in ‘Friends,’ the highest point in my career, the iconic moment on the iconic show, in a pickup truck helmed by a sober technician,” he wrote.
The actor was open about his decades-long struggle with addiction and documented how it affected both his personal life and his time starring as Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom.
Bowick’s comments are featured in the upcoming three-part documentary which premieres on Netflix on Oct. 27. The project includes archival footage and interviews with family and friends reflecting on his life, career and long journey toward sobriety.
“All great stories have comedy and tragedy in them, and that certainly was Matthew’s story,” Bowick says in the documentary. “My brother would talk about that feeling of emptiness or loneliness that he couldn’t quite fill.”
Bowick also revealed that Perry spent more than $7 million trying to get sober.
“That’s how seriously he took his disease,” she said.
If you or someone you know is struggling with drug addiction, call the national hotline for drug abuse at 1-888-633-3239 to receive information regarding treatment and recovery.
