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Matthew — who starred alongside Jennifer in all 236 episodes of Friends between 1995 and 2004 — was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his LA home on Oct. 28.
“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 through tears in an interview alongside Reese Witherspoon for Variety.
“I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty,” she added. “He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy.”
If you know much about Matthew, you’ll be aware that he talked openly about his history with drug and alcohol addiction, which began around the time he landed his role in Friends at 24 years old.
It’s important to note that there is currently nothing to suggest his death was drug related, as it was reported that no drugs or illegal substances were found on his property when he died.
Speaking in her new interview, Jennifer said that she wants “people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy.”
“He was on a pursuit,” she went on. “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.”
Last year, while promoting his bestselling memoir — Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing — the actor opened up about the severe medical complications caused by his addiction struggles over the years, including an exploded colon, a period on life support, and 14 surgeries on his stomach.
At some points during his abuse of drugs, Matthew admitted he was taking “55 Vicodin” per day and “didn’t know how to stop.”
Being that addiction impacted his life throughout much of the time he was acting on Friends, Matthew previously said he found it difficult to rewatch the show, in spite of his love for his castmates.
He also said that his costars were some of his biggest supporters throughout this difficult time in his life too. In an interview with Diane Sawyer in October last year, Matthew praised Jennifer specifically for confronting him about his substance and alcohol abuse while shooting Friends.
“We know you’re drinking,” she apparently told him on set.
“Imagine how scary a moment that was,” he recalled of the confrontation. “She was the one that reached out the most. You know, I’m really grateful to her for that.”
Matthew said he spent more than $9 million on his sobriety journey, going to rehab 15 times. And in the last years of his life, he used his platform to make it easier for other people to find the support they need.
“The best thing about me, bar none, is if somebody comes up to me and says, ‘I can’t stop drinking; can you help me?’ I can say yes and follow up and do it,” he explained during an interview in 2022. “It’s the best thing. And I’ve said this for a long time: When I die, I don’t want Friends to be the first thing that’s mentioned. I want that to be the first thing that’s mentioned, and I’m going to live the rest of my life proving that.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.
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