Driver remembered the late 'Friends' star, whom she acted alongside in a London stage show 20 years ago.
Minnie Driver is recalling her fond memories of Matthew Perry and sharing how he uplifted others despite the pain he was going through. In an obituary published by The Guardian, the Good Will Hunting actress paid tribute to the late Friends star, whom she starred alongside onstage in a London production of David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago in 2003.
The actress shared the actors' first proper meeting, which she orchestrated when they began rehearsing for their stage show.
"I wanted to chat to him properly. I was going for lunch with my family, and I remember calling him, saying, do you mind coming to meet us, and he was so easy about it," Driver wrote of Perry. "The restaurant put us in the back away from people, but when he walked in... the whole place lit up. The whole place smiled."
She noted that they related to one another over their apprehension of taking to the stage. "We felt that vulnerability, being people who weren't theatre actors putting ourselves up on stage when everybody knew us and was ready to judge us. It's funny when you forge a connection over fear, but we did that summer," she wrote.
Driver also recalled Perry's unique balance of sharp wit and reliable kindness, writing, "Matthew was one of the quickest people you would ever come across, ruthlessly funny in the ways he'd react to people. He wouldn't let you get away with anything... He was the most self-deprecating person and really kind. Anyone who asked him for help, he would help."
"He had been in a good place when we were doing the play, but the thing about him was he was like a light," she remembered. "He was one of those people who just made other people feel good. Somehow, they don't suck you down into their sadness, or their pain, and I know now that his pain was great."
The actress reflected on Perry's conflicted relationship with his Friends fame, which he candidly opened up about in the past. "Matthew, we mustn't forget, was a very good actor," she wrote. "I recently looked at the reviews for our play -- and his were all really good, apart from one. I remember his reaction to it: 'Some people only want Chandler, and I don't know that I'm allowed to be anything other than that.' That character was going to be iconic and beloved forever, but clearly, there was so much more to him."
Driver continued: "But he knew that Friends was never going to let him go. It was a pretty tight yoke. Part of Matthew's inner struggle was that he was so closely identified with a role that was also beloved to him — one that he was so good at. But it also held him in a specific place, so it felt like a tug of war. I also think if you struggle with addiction and you have this extraordinary, rarefied life where people love you so completely, it's always difficult to come to terms with the possibility of your fallibility."
Although the actress confessed that she found it hard to get through Perry's 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers and The Big Terrible Thing -- she wrote that "it felt unbearable, how much he suffered" -- she stated that the memoir ultimately served as a positive force in his life.
"I last saw him on his book tour last year. It was such a relief hearing him say that by putting all that tough stuff out there, he'd exorcised it in a way," she said. "I'm incredibly grateful that he got to have the experience of how much people loved that book, and loved him, outside of Friends. Ultimately, it seemed like a positive thing."
Perry died on Oct. 28 at 54 years old, from acute effects of ketamine.
After his death, his estate announced the formation of the Matthew Perry Foundation, a charity devoted to helping those struggling with substance abuse. In a statement shared with ET, officials said that the organization will follow in Perry's footsteps and continue his life's mission of helping others dealing with addiction, which he said was "paramount" to him before his death.
"The Matthew Perry Foundation is the realization of Matthew's enduring commitment to helping others struggling with the disease of addiction," the statement read.
"It will honor his legacy and be guided by his own words and experiences and driven by his passion for making a difference in as many lives as possible," the statement announcing the foundation declared.
The actor was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles on Nov. 3.
ET previously reported that Perry's Friends co-stars -- Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer -- attended his funeral, along with other loved ones.