The Netflix film The One About Matthew Perry features his sister’s account of his final years and of the private service in November 2023. None of the five surviving Friends stars appears in it.
The One About Matthew Perry, a new Netflix documentary, has premiered. It covers the Friends star’s life, career and addiction struggles, and the circumstances of his death. According to Britannia Daily, his family and friends say he was “struggling” before his final television appearance, at the 2021 Friends reunion special. His sister, Mia Perry Bowick, also describes how his former co-stars said goodbye at his funeral.
The funeral
Ms Perry Bowick says the private service was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles in November 2023, six days after his death, according to People. It was a small gathering of family and close friends. Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer arrived together. Ms Aniston was the first to embrace Ms Perry Bowick, whom the actors had not seen for about 20 years. The five then approached his open coffin holding hands and stood around him in tears, she says.
Who took part
Los Angeles Times reports that the director, Mary Robertson, confirmed that the five surviving Friends stars declined to take part in the three-part series, as did the show’s creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane. She acknowledged that several people close to Perry were still processing his death, and did not suggest the absence reflected any disagreement with the project. The film relies instead on his sister and on friends of more than 40 years. Netflix says Ms Perry Bowick had previously turned down chances to speak publicly at length, and that this is her first on-camera account, illustrated with unreleased family photographs and videos. Ms Robertson’s earlier work includes Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
His life and illness
Netflix says Perry suffered a ruptured colon and sepsis in 2018. He was put in a coma and needed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a form of advanced life support. In his own account, doctors gave him about a 2% chance of survival. His sister was given power of attorney to make decisions about his care. She had given birth about six weeks earlier and had recently been treated in the same hospital’s intensive care unit.
Ms Perry Bowick says the family attended the filming of the Season 7 Friends wedding of Chandler Bing and Monica Geller while Perry was moving in and out of addiction treatment. Relatives privately wondered whether it might be the closest they would come to seeing him marry. She remembers how committed he seemed as he delivered his character’s vows.
She says that after the 2021 reunion she began to see his addiction as potentially terminal, and later came to believe that loving him did not mean she could control his recovery. Letting go of that sense of responsibility, she says, allowed her to connect with him more openly in his final years.
Friends and a film bet
Tim Harrington, who met Perry at a recovery meeting in 2001, says he phoned him when he feared he was about to relapse and was thinking of living in his car. Perry immediately offered him somewhere to live, and Mr Harrington credits that with saving his life. They regularly attended early-morning meetings in West Hollywood, listening to Train’s “Drops of Jupiter” on the way.
The film also revisits why Bruce Willis appeared in Friends. The director Jonathan Lynn says Willis doubted the commercial prospects of their 2000 film The Whole Nine Yards, while Perry predicted it would succeed. They reportedly agreed that Willis would guest on Friends if Perry was right. The film did well, and Willis played Paul Stevens, the father of Ross Geller’s girlfriend Elizabeth.
The criminal cases
Netflix’s account reviews the federal prosecutions of people involved in supplying Perry with ketamine before his death. It reports these outcomes:
| Defendant | Sentence reported by Netflix |
|---|---|
| Dr Salvador Plasencia | 2½ years in federal prison (2025) |
| Dr Mark Chavez | Eight months’ home detention (2025) |
| Erik Fleming | Two years in prison (early 2026) |
| Jasveen Sangha | 15 years in federal prison (early 2026) |
| Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s assistant | Three years and five months in prison (May 2026) |
Ms Perry Bowick attended the court proceedings and regarded them as an important part of coming to terms with her brother’s death. The cases concern the supply and administration of ketamine, and should not be confused with his prescribed medical treatment.
An ending
The documentary closes on Perry’s attachment to “Rainbow Connection”, the song associated with Kermit the Frog in The Muppet Movie. Ms Perry Bowick says it reflects qualities she associates with her brother, including warmth, humour and melancholy. She says she still talks to him privately when she is grieving.
