Minnie Driver remembered Matthew Perry: “I know now that his pain was great.”

In an obituary published by the British newspaper The guardMinnie Driver recalls the good times she had with Matthew Perry, with whom she appeared in a 2003 David Mamet production. Sexual perversity in Chicago.

“He was in good spirits when we performed the piece, but what was special about him was that he was like a light,” Driver wrote. “He was one of those people who made other people feel good. Somehow they don’t drag you into their grief or pain, and I know now that his pain was great.

She continued: “Matthew was one of the quickest people you could ever meet, cruelly funny in the way he reacted to people. He didn’t let you get away with anything. I would always tell really long stories and he would always do this brilliant time section where he would fall asleep in the middle – so funny – but he wasn’t mean in any way. He was the most self-deprecating person and very kind. He will help all who ask him for help.”

The fame that came from the explosion in popularity of televisions Friends sometimes overshadowed Perry’s true acting talent.

“We must not forget that Matthew was a very good actor,” she wrote. “I recently looked at the reviews for our play – and all but one of his were very good. I remember his response to that: “Some people just want Chandler, and I don’t know if I can be anything else.” That character would forever remain iconic and beloved, but he clearly had so much more to offer. “

The struggle to further define yourself Friends was something that may have exacerbated his addiction, Driver said.

“It was a pretty tight yoke. Part of Matthew’s inner struggle was that he so identified with a role that he also loved – a role that he was so good at. But it also held him in place, making it feel like a tug of war. I also think it’s always hard to accept the possibility of fallibility when you’re struggling with addiction and living an extraordinary, beautiful life where people love you so much.”

The manager found Perry’s brutally honest 2022 memoir Friends, lovers and the big terrible thing difficult to read. “The last time I saw him was during his book tour last year. “It was a huge relief to hear him say that he kind of defuses it by putting all those difficult things out there,” she said. “I am incredibly grateful that he could see how much people loved this book and him out there Friends. In the end it seemed like a positive thing.”

Perry died on Oct. 28 at age 54 from what the medical examiner’s office described as “acute effects of ketamine.”