Matthew Perry Was Happy And Sober Before His Death, ‘Friends’ Co-Creator Marta Kauffman Tells Hoda Kotb: “He Was In A Really Good Place”

Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman spoke to actor Mathew Perry just two weeks before his Oct. 28 death at 54, and was pleased with what she heard.

“It was great,” Kauffman said in an exclusive Today show interview with Hoda Kotb that aired this morning. “He was happy, and chipper. He didn’t seem weighed down by anything. He was in a really good place, which is why this seems so unfair.”

More from Deadline

• John Stamos Shares Touching Memory Of Matthew Perry From When He Guest-Starred On 'Friends'

• 'Friends' Cast React To Death Of Matthew Perry: "We Are All So Utterly Devastated"

• TBS Plans "Best Of Chandler" Marathon To Honor 'Friends' Star Matthew Perry

Watch the interview below.

“I was just in utter shock,” Kauffman said about hearing the news of Perry’s death. “My first impulse was to text him, honestly. And then deep sadness. It’s hard to grasp. You know, one minute he’s here and happy, and then poof. And doing good in the world. Really doing good in the world.”

Although a cause of death has not been revealed and toxicology reports are pending, Perry apparently drowned in a hot tub at his home in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. He had been playing pickleball earlier that day.

Friends co-creator David Crane agreed with Perry’s stated prediction that his death would be surprising but not shocking.

“I would say that’s probably true,” Crane told Kotb. “Given the journey he’d been on, and we were all aware of it, there was always a part that was kind of bracing for something like this. But it is still hard to believe because he was such a sort of alive person that it’s hard to believe he’s not here.”

Perry’s 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing detailed his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, his frequent stays in rehab, his many addiction-related illnesses and surgeries and his lifelong battle to get and stay sober.

Perry’s physical appearance during an onscreen 2021 Friends cast reunion shocked some viewers, and worried Kauffman.

“Yes, I was concerned about him,” she said on Today. “Knowing that he’d been through everything he’d been through, and every time he had surgery they’re giving him opioids for pain, and the cycle starts over again. So, yes, I was concerned about what point in the cycle he was in that moment.”

Said Crane, “I think when we talk about Matthew, we were all very aware that our priority was supporting him” through the 10-year run of the show and beyond.

But Kauffman said that Perry seemed to be in “a good place” when she spoke to him two weeks before his death.

“He seemed better than I had seen in a while,” she said. “I was so thrilled to see that. He was emotionally in a good place. He looked good. He quit smoking.” Kauffman added that he was sober.

“He learned things throughout this, and what he learned more than anything is that he wants to help other addicts. And it gave him purpose,” Kauffman said.

Reminded that Perry had said he wanted his work with fellow addicts to be his legacy before his performance on Friends, Crane said, “That doesn’t surprise me. As important as the show was, and continues to be, I think that absolutely became his purpose, his reason for being.”

Asked to describe the impact of Perry’s death on her life, Kauffman said, “I lost a friend, in multiple ways. And what’s amazing is the outpouring from the fans who lost a friend of theirs, too. And I hope wherever he is, he feels it.”

Watch the interview here:

Best of Deadline

• 2023 Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series On Broadcast, Cable & Streaming

• 2023-24 Awards Season Calendar - Dates For Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More

• TV Cancellations Photo Gallery: Series Ending In 2023 & Beyond

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.