Jennifer Aniston Recalls Texting Matthew Perry Hours Before He Died

Jennifer Aniston is looking back on her final conversation with Friends costar Matthew Perry, which occurred just hours before his sudden death on Oct. 28 at the age of 54. Aniston, 54, opened up to Variety about her last texting exchange with the late actor, revealing he was "happy" and doing well as she got emotional about the unexpected loss of her friend. 

"He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape," Aniston told the outlet. "He was happy – that's all I know." The actress then began to cry as she looked back on her final communication with Perry before he was found unresponsive in his jacuzzi. The actor's official cause of death has yet to be announced. "I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty," she recalled. "He was not in pain. He wasn't struggling. He was happy."

Perry had been open about his struggles with addiction over the years, but Aniston was firm in her conversation with Variety that he was doing well on his sobriety journey. "I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy. He was on a pursuit. He worked so hard," she shared. "He really was dealt a tough one. I miss him dearly. We all do. Boy, he made us laugh really hard."

Following Perry's passing, Aniston released a joint statement with fellow Friends co-stars Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer. "We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family," they wrote. "There is so much to say, but right now we're going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss."

Not long after, Aniston shared a tribute to Perry on her Instagram. "Oh boy this one has cut deep... Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I've never experienced before," she wrote. "We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply."

"He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be," Aniston continued. "For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn't hear the 'laugh' he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard."

Sharing a text she had been sent by Perry "out of nowhere one day," Aniston revealed it "says it all" when it comes to her relationship with her former co-star. "Making you laugh just made my day. It made my day :)," Perry texted Aniston, alongside a photo of her laughing at his joke. She replied, "Awww the first of THOUSANDS of times ... " Aniston concluded her tribute, "Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day... sometimes I can almost hear you saying 'could you BE any crazier?' Rest little brother. You always made my day..."