George Clooney spoke about Matthew Perry’s experience while on the set of “Friends” and noted the late actor wasn’t happy, despite his success.
The famous actor spoke candidly about Perry’s internal struggles during an interview with Deadline published Tuesday. “He wasn’t happy,” Clooney said. Speaking directly about his experience on one of the most iconic shows of our time, Clooney told the outlet that being on “Friends” “didn’t bring him joy or happiness or peace.”
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He recalled that Perry used to say, “I just want to get on a sitcom, man. I just want to get on a regular sitcom and I would be the happiest man on earth.”
“And he got on probably one of the best ever,” Clooney told Deadline.
However, even with the success of “Friends,” Clooney noted that Perry was unfulfilled.
Clooney, who was filming “ER” in the same lot as “Friends,” spoke of his interactions with Perry during the height of the show. He recalled conversations with the late star as well as Richard Kind and Grant Heslov. Clooney said even at that time, Perry’s struggles were apparent.
“And watching that go on on the lot — we were at Warner Brothers, we were there right next to each other — it was hard to watch because we didn’t know what was going through him,” he said.
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“We just knew that he wasn’t happy and I had no idea he was doing what, 12 Vicodin a day and all the stuff he talked about, all that heartbreaking stuff,” he said.
Perry was forthcoming about his issues with addiction over the course of his career, and admitted it affected his time on the show. To the rest of the world looking in, Perry seemed to have it all, but that wasn’t the case for the late actor. (RELATED: Matthew Perry’s Cause Of Death Revealed)
“And it also just tells you that success and money and all those things, it doesn’t just automatically bring you happiness. You have to be happy with yourself and your life,” Clooney said, according to Deadline.
Perry died Oct. 28 at the age of 52.