No one told Morgan Fairchild life was gonna be this way.
And one year after Matthew Perry died at the age of 54, the actress—who played mom to his character Chandler Bing on Friends—shared what she wishes she could have said to him.
“Just that I’m so sorry, and I wish he had reached out for help more,” Fairchild told E! News in an exclusive interview. “When I was on set with him—and I was occasionally when he was going through some of the problems—I tried to be there for him. But it’s very hard when you’re not around that much, and I was in and out of the show. And so when it’s in the depth of their problem, it’s difficult. But I would have been there for him.”
Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28, 2023 and was pronounced dead at the scene. L.A. County’s medical examiner determined the actor died of the “acute effects of ketamine” and cited “drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder)” as contributing factors. The manner of death for Perry—who’d been candid about his battle with addiction, including in his 2022 memoir—was ruled an accident.
“I think everyone thought he was coming out on the other side of the problems,” Fairchild continued, “and so I think it was probably a real shock to everyone—at least it was to me.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced in August that five people were charged for their alleged connection to Perry’s death. Per the office’s release, Erik Fleming, who admitted to selling the ketamine that killed Perry, pleaded guilty to both conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of the drug resulting in death. In addition, Dr. Mark Chavez and Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine—with the release noting the latter confessed to “repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training.”
Meanwhile, Jasveen Sangha—known as “The Ketamine Queen” of North Hollywood, per the release—and Dr. Salvador Plasencia have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine, according to NBC News.
In addition to being part of Perry’s TV family, Fairchild knows the actor’s real-life family—including his father John Bennett Perry, her costar on the ’80s dramas Flamingo Road and Falcon Crest.
“I knew his dad back in the day,” she added. “And the loss of a child—the loss of especially such a wonderful, giving and talented child when everything seemed to be doing so much better—it was just very sad.”
In fact, the 74-year-old still remembers Perry “bounding over” to her on their first day of work together and telling her, “‘Oh, you won’t remember me, but I used to hang out on the set of Flamingo Road and Falcon Crest with you, with my dad.'” Once she realized who his father was, she thought, “‘God, this little kid I used to hang out with is now an adult.'”
And quite a charming one at that.
“Just the sweetness, the kindness, the effervescence, the way he lit up a room and was so funny and kind and generous to everyone, that’s the way I remember him,” Fairchild shared. “It’s very sad to see what’s happened when it looked like he was doing so much better. So, I think the loss of such a talent, such a lovely person that I remember as this really promising young actor, very funny, very sweet, it’s just very sad.”
And she has many fond memories from their time on the Friends set.
“He was always very, very fun and funny between scenes,” she recalled, “and I just remember he was the master of the double take.”
Among the episodes that stand out in her mind are the ones in which she and Kathleen Turner (who played Chandler’s other parent) attended his wedding to Courteney Cox‘s Monica Geller.
“The rehearsal dinner and the wedding and everything,” Fairchild said, “and just how funny he was—even between takes. But everything that he added to it with all the double takes and triple takes, he was just such a gifted, natural comedian. So those are the moments I remember—the fun, uplifting moments.”
To look back at more of Perry’s best Friends episodes, keep reading.
It’s a tough task to single out any one Chandler moment—he had so many—but I may have to go with the flashback one where he finds out he lost a toe (while rocking that whole Miami Vice, Flock of Seagulls ’80s look, bonus points) thanks to Monica. Then she puts a turkey on her head, adds a hat and sunglasses, does a little dance and “I love you” slips out of Chandler’s mouth. He may try to take it back, but we all know he means it. And just like that, they’ve reached the next level of their relationship.—Natalie Finn
Matthew Perry is the reason why I started watching Friends. I grew up with his sister so I heard about the show through our community in the ’90s. Friends became my favorite show and is still my favorite of all time. It’s difficult to pick a favorite Chandler moment since they are all soooo good, but “The One Where Everybody Finds Out” is genius. Phoebe finds out about Monica and Chandler and she tests him with flirtation. The writing and comedic delivery is top notch.—Jacqueline Uddo
Could this be any harder? There are so many hilariously funny Chandler Bing one-liners that I still quote on the regular (“Did I just say, ‘If I wear a guy?’” “I get my ya-yas from Ikea. You have to put them together yourself, but they cost a little less.” “I’m not great at the advice. Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?”).But if I had to pick my favorite Chandler-centric episodes, I would say the one where he’s trapped in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre. Because even as I type this I can hear the delivery in my head. And while the one where everyone is late is a Friends classic for many reasons (“I’m breezy!”) the Chandler-Joey fight over the chair and the cushions, which are, of course, the essence of the chair stands out. So in the words of A.A. Milne, get out of my chair, dillhole.—Sarah Grossbart
