Jennifer Aniston says she was texting with Matthew Perry the morning of his death: "He was happy"

Jennifer Aniston revealed in an interview that she exchanged texts with her close friend Matthew Perry on the day he died. 

"He wasn't struggling," Aniston said in an interview with "Variety" published Monday. 

Perry, 54, was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles-area home in October. An official cause of death is not yet known.

The actor, who starred alongside Aniston in the hit show "Friends," opened up about his struggles with addiction in a memoir published in 2022. 

Aniston told "Variety" that Perry said "he'd love to be remembered."

"He was happy. He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that's all I know," she said in the joint interview with Reese Witherspoon, who she stars with on "The Morning Show." 

"I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty. He was not in pain. He wasn't struggling. He was happy," Aniston said. 

"It's important people know that," Witherspoon chimed in. 

"It is," Aniston agreed, and Witherspoon held Aniston's hand as she started crying, according to "Variety."

"I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy. He was on a pursuit. He worked so hard. He really was dealt a tough one. I miss him dearly. We all do. Boy, he made us laugh really hard," Aniston said. 

After Perry's death, Aniston and the four  about their friend. "We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family," their statement reads. "There is so much to say, but right now we're going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss."

Perry played the sarcastic Chandler Bing on the long-running show about six friends living in New York City. After his death, tributes poured in from fans and fellow stars. The five "Friends" co-stars each paid tribute to Perry with their own Instagram posts, and fans of the show flocked to the West Village apartment used in exterior shots of the sitcom. 

Aniston called the outpouring of love "so beautiful," adding, "I hope he can know that he was loved in a way he never thought he was."

Witherspoon said it is "incredible what was born of those friendships, and how you guys have always taken care of each other for years and years."

Witherspoon appeared as a guest star in two episodes of "Friends," playing the sister of Aniston's character, Rachel Green. "I feel lucky that I got to be on that show and I walked in like Alice in Wonderland, watching the most popular cast do this whole thing," she said. "I remember going home and going, oh, they're in another league."

Aniston said it was Perry's way of speaking that "created a whole different world."

"We went with his lead, in a way. It just added something to our joy," she said. 

In:
• Jennifer Aniston
• Matthew Perry

Caitlin O'Kane

Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift.