Jennifer Aniston has paid tribute to Matthew Perry, who passed away on 28 October aged 54.
Posting an emotional tribute to her former Friends co-star and close friend, Jennifer – who played Rachel Green on the show – wrote, ‘Oh boy, this one has cut deep… Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before.’
‘We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the six of us.’
She went on, 'This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be. For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn't hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard. In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all..'
The actress then shared a screenshot of a text from Matthew that read, 'Making you laugh just made my day. It made my day', to which Jen responded, 'Aww the first of THOUSANDS of times...'.
Signing off on the emotional post, she wrote, ‘Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… Sometimes I can almost hear you saying “Could you BE any crazier?”’
‘Rest little brother. You always made my day.’
The post garnered an impressive 975K likes within 15 minutes of its posting, as the world joined in on mourning the star.
Jennifer’s emotional post comes soon after co-stars Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc paid tribute to their friend – with the whole cast releasing a statement reading, ‘We are more than just cast mates. We are a family.’
Matthew – who played Chandler Bing in the US sitcom between 1994 and 2004 – passed away last month. TMZ reported that the actor died following an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home. Law enforcement sources told the outlet there were no drugs found at the scene and there we no signs of foul play.
Matthew had been open in the past about his close bond with the Marley & Me actress. In his autobiography ‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,’ the star recalled how Jennifer supported him through his battle with addiction – writing ‘She was the one that reached out the most. I’m really grateful to her for that.’
According to People, Matthew's funeral took place on Friday 3 November at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles near Warner Bros. Studios, with Matt, Jennifer, Courteney, Lisa and David all in attendance.