Julia Roberts Breaks Her Silence on Ex Matthew Perry’s “Heartbreaking” Passing

Julia Roberts has opened up about Matthew Perry’s death, whom she dated in the late 90’s, and how she’s coping with it. And she didn’t forget about her brief feature on Friends, which she also reflected on.

She got candid during an interview.

Nearly two months after the world was shocked to hear about Matthew Perry’s death, who passed away at 54 due to an apparent drowning, Julia Roberts addressed the tragedy.

“The sudden passing of anybody so young is heartbreaking,” she said. “I think that, you know, it just helps all of us just appreciate what we have and to keep going in a positive way as best we can.”

When questioned about her stint on Friends, where she played a minor character in an episode of the second season and where she met her ex-boyfriend, Perry, Roberts made it clear she had nothing but good memories from her time on set. “All good thoughts and feelings. They were all so welcoming to me as just a kind of a one-off character and it was a really fun time,” she recalled.

But her connection to Friends isn’t over. Roberts starred in a 2023 movie, Leave the World Behind, which is riddled of references about the beloved sitcom. On that, her co-star Mahershala Ali admitted it couldn’t have come at a better timing. “It’s beautiful he could sort of be honored in that way,” the actor said. “Or the show sort of be honored, coincidentally, at this time. So it’s kinda nice that it has a little space in there.”

They quickly became romantically connected.

Friends star Matthew Perry, 53, opened up about their romance, which blossomed in 1995 when the talented Pretty Woman actress was approached to make a guest appearance on the beloved sitcom. Producers encouraged Perry to reach out to Roberts since she expressed her interest in joining the show only if she could be part of Chandler Bing’s storyline.

Recalling those moments, Perry said, “I sent her three dozen red roses and the card read, ’The only thing more exciting than the prospect of you doing the show is that I finally have an excuse to send you flowers.’”

Roberts agreed to appear in a special episode of Friends, leading to a three-month courtship through daily faxes while she was in France filming a movie. They became a couple when the episode started filming.

Perry called it quits due to low self-esteem.

Reflecting on his time on the hit show Perry shared, “Being on Friends was one of those unicorn situations where the news just kept getting better and better. But off-screen, things weren’t going so well.” Perry admitted that dating Julia Roberts had become overwhelming for him. To avoid the pain of an inevitable breakup, Perry made the difficult decision to end his relationship with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts.

He ended things with Roberts two months after her appearance on the show. He said, “Dating Julia Roberts had been too much for me. I had been constantly certain that she was going to break up with me. Why would she not? I was not enough; I could never be enough; I was broken, bent, unlovable.”

Matthew Perry was an incredibly talented and versatile actor who has captured the hearts of audiences worldwide. His talent extended far beyond comedy, as he had also showcased his remarkable dramatic skills in various projects.