Matthew Perry had a 'really happy year' prior to death, says Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham

Matthew Perry had a "really happy year" prior to his death aged 54, according to Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham.

The 56-year-old actress was good friends with the late Friends actor — who was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home last month — and has told how the star was "so proud" of his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, which detailed his struggles with addiction.

Speaking on CBS Mornings, Lauren said: "This last year, he was so proud of the book he wrote, and of how many people it touched.

"It was a success that gave him a level of happiness that I hadn't seen in him for a really long time, so that's a nice memory."

Lauren — who met Matthew when they were shooting 2008 film Birds of America — is "still in shock" at his passing.

She added: "I mean, it's a really tragic loss, and he leaves his beautiful work behind.

"That's something to be thankful for, and again, the book really meant something to him, so it was a really happy year for him."

While promoting his memoir last year, Matthew — who played Chandler Bing in the NBC sitcom — thanked his co-star Jennifer Aniston for her support as he battled addiction.

He told Diane Sawyer in October 2022: "She was the one that reached out the most. You know, I'm really grateful to her for that."

The star also admitted it was Jennifer who initially confronted him during the filming of Friends and told him the cast knew he was drinking.

Matthew added: "Imagine how scary a moment that was."

But he also hailed Jennifer as "wonderful", "terrific" and "the greatest" for caring about him.

Earlier this week, Jennifer, 54, paid tribute to Matthew, admitting his shock death has "cut deep".

She posted a carousel of images and a video clip of her and Matthew on Instagram on Wednesday (Nov 15), writing : "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.

"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 six of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be.

"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.

"In the last couple weeks, I've been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I'll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all. (See the second slide…)

"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… (sic)"

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