Netflix Premieres Matthew Perry Documentary Tuesday
A three-part documentary on Matthew Perry's life, career, and addiction struggles premieres on Netflix, featuring intimate interviews with friends and family.
Netflix's three-part documentary series on Matthew Perry premieres Tuesday. The three-hour film chronicles the actor's rise to fame and his lifelong battle with addiction, revisiting his struggles as a 'Friends' star.
Content and perspective
The documentary features interviews with close friends, former girlfriends, and co-workers. It includes Perry's sister, Mia Perry Bowick, who became a licensed psychotherapist due to his struggles. Director Mary Robertson calls the project a love letter to Perry that includes his stumbles and humor, portraying addiction as the common enemy. The film does not sugarcoat his challenges with alcohol, pills, and ketamine, described by those who knew him as both challenging and heartbreaking.
Perry's personal history and family
Matthew Perry's parents divorced when he was a baby. He lived with his mother in Canada and visited his father, John Bennett Perry, in California. His half-sister Mia was born when he was 16. She stated he shaped who she is today and recalled his beautiful heart and generous spirit. Perry's father, now too ill to contribute to the film, supported him through his struggles. The documentary details Perry's childhood fear of traveling alone as an unaccompanied minor, a theme from his memoir.
Perry's family and friends expressed both love and despair over his addiction. His sister visited him in rehab in 2001, hiding in a cupboard crying. She gave birth in 2018 and visited him in the hospital six weeks later, following a coma that lasted three months. Perry spent $7 million on rehab over the years. His death was preceded by repeated relapses, with his sister describing his feelings of emptiness and loneliness.
Career and public image
Matthew Perry became famous for his role as Chandler Bing on the sitcom 'Friends'. He began his career after being cast by director William Richert in 'A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon'. Perry auditioned for 'Friends Like Us' in 1993 after peers helped him prepare. He was seen as a generous person who helped others, even buying a Corvette for his sister when she was 15. His longtime friend David Pressman stated Perry would want people to talk about how funny he was. Perry's best friends since his early days in LA were Roger Castillo and David Pressman.
His public advocacy for recovery was detailed in his 2022 memoir, 'Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing'. The book, which hit shelves on Nov. 1 of that year, detailed his openness about being an alcoholic. Matthew Perry was found dead in his hot tub on Oct. 28, 2023, after drowning with illegally sourced ketamine in his system; he was 54. The documentary's premiere on Tuesday marks the beginning of a three-part exploration of his life and legacy.
