Gilmore Girls alum Lauren Graham shared poignant memories of her dear friend Matthew Perry in a heartfelt tribute on CBS Mornings — and said he had been enjoying one of his happiest years in the lead-up to his tragic death.
During her appearance, Graham reflected on the joy Perry brought to those around him and the power he had to make people laugh.
Asked what her best memory of him was, Graham recounted, “Oh boy, no one made me laugh as hard… I mean, just tears streaming… you know, there was just such a joy in being around him and being his friend.”
She also highlighted the past year as a particularly joyous period for Perry, largely due to the success of his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, in which he discussed his troubles with addiction.
“He was so proud of the book he wrote and how many people it touched, and it was a success that gave him a level of happiness that I hadn’t seen in him for a really long time, so that’s a nice memory,” Graham shared.
Perry’s recent memoir was praised for its candidness and resonated with fans and readers worldwide. His transparency about his struggles and triumphs struck a chord with many, making his untimely passing all the more poignant.
Asked if she was stunned by the news of his passing, Graham said, “I’m still in shock. It’s just a really tragic loss and… he leaves his beautiful work behind, and that’s something to be thankful for.
“And, again, the book really meant something to him, so it was a really happy year for him.”
Graham and Perry had been close friends since they first met while filming 2008’s Birds of America.
Graham was on CBS Mornings to promote her new book, Have I Told You This Already?, which details her life and career in Hollywood.
“It’s born out of my habit of retelling the same story and over, so finally I thought I’d write it down,” she joked.
Discussing the pressure to wear skimpy clothing and have a particular body type in her early acting days, she says, “It was of a time when that was just the popular trend and we weren’t having some of the conversations that we are having today about, sort of, being the subject of these trends and we just all kind of followed them. Things are different now, and I think better.”
Asked if fans would ever get to see more Gilmore Girls, she said, “You can never say never I guess, in this day and age.
“I love that character, I love that writing, I love how much joy it seems to bring people. I really appreciate that.
“It’s something I’m incredibly grateful for in my life, to get that back from fans of all different generations… it seems like younger people keep finding it … is just amazing.”
“There is not a formal discussion of doing it again,” she added. “There is always that fear that we want to leave it where it’s best left but we didn’t know we would be coming back to those Netflix movies, so you really never know. But there really isn’t a formal conversation.”