These two were friends until the end.
Five months after Matthew Perry's death, his pal Lauren Graham reflected on her history with the actor, clarifying exactly what they once meant to each other.
"While he was not technically ever a boyfriend, he was an almost in my life," she said during a April 5 Q&A session in Los Angeles for her Have I Told You This Already? book tour, per Deadline. "A friend and a constant."
She also noted that while their friendship may have ebbed and flowed over the years, they always found their way back to each other—including within the year prior to the Friends actor's October passing.
"We would stretch for a year, then he would come back in my life" she explained. "And he had just come back in my life last year."
In fact, the Gilmore Girls star shared the sweet gift he sent her for her 56th birthday in March 2023: a pickleball set.
"He's like really into tennis and pickleball," she remembered, adding the gift came "with a card that said, ‘Be older.'"
And while reflecting on her own book, she remembered the pride Matthew had for his own publication—Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, a 2022 memoir that chronicled his struggles, and recovery, with addiction throughout his life and career.
"The solace I take from having seen him at the time," Lauren remembered, "was he was so thrilled with how his book was received. And not just because it was a huge success, but because his life's work kind of became, ‘How can I give back? How can I talk about the struggles I had and hopefully help someone else?'"
Lauren isn't the only former friend and colleague of Matthew's to pay him tribute since his death. Keep reading for more fond words and memories about the Fools Rush In star.