Jessica Hecht remembers her late “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry fondly.
“He was so silly when he was young, and he was so easy to love,” the actress told Page Six exclusively at Manhattan Theatre Club’s 2023 Fall Gala on Monday.
Hecht — who played Susan Bunch, the wife of Ross Geller’s ex Carol Willick — shared that her favorite episode of the beloved NBC sitcom was Season 2’s “The One With the Breast Milk,” in which Ross (David Schwimmer) and Chandler Bing (Perry) were disgusted by Carol (Jane Sibbett) breastfeeding.
“His [Perry’s] was the silliest attempt to taste the breast milk,” she told us with a laugh. “I just remember how kind he was and how he tried to make everyone else at ease.”
The Tony nominee noted that the “Whole Nine Yards” star “was kinder to other people [than himself], as many people are who suffer from addiction and all of that — just desperate for other people to be relieved from the pain that they feel.”
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Perry died on Oct. 28 in an apparent drowning at the age of 54.
The main “Friends” cast members released a joint statement two days later saying they were “utterly devastated” by the sudden loss.
“We were more than just castmates. We are a family,” Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and Schwimmer said.
“There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss. In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”
Prior to his death, Perry had been open about his struggles with drugs and alcohol that at one point saw him downing 55 Vicodin and a quart of vodka every day.
The actor detailed his addiction woes in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” revealing that he “nearly died” a few years ago when his colon burst from opioid overuse. The medical emergency left him in a coma for two weeks and forced him to wear a colostomy bag for nine months.
Perry’s loved ones, including his “Friends” co-stars, attended his funeral on Nov. 3.
He was subsequently buried in a private, star-studded section of Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
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