Mia Perry Bowick Recalls Friends Cast at Funeral in Netflix Documentary
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer walked in together and held hands at Matthew Perry’s 2023 funeral, according to his younger sister, Mia Perry Bowick, in the Netflix documentary The One About Matthew Perry.
The three-part documentary, which arrived on Netflix on Oct. 27, explores Perry’s career, his struggles with addiction, and the relationships that shaped his life. Perry died on October 28, 2023, at age 54, after the Los Angeles County medical examiner determined that the acute effects of ketamine caused his death and ruled it accidental.
In the final episode of the series, Bowick shares memories of the service held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles on Friday, November 3, 2023. She recalled that the family arranged a brief open-casket period before the arrival of close friends and the rest of the Friends cast.
“The funeral was very small, family and close friends only – and then the rest of the Friends cast all walked in together,” Bowick said in the documentary. “I hadn’t seen them in easily over 20 years. And Jen Aniston was the first one to come over and give me a huge hug, and then they all did, and then all five of them walked up to the casket holding hands, and they stood around him crying.”
Production Pauses and Addiction Struggles Highlighted in the Series
The documentary also addresses the challenges Perry faced during his ten seasons on the sitcom Friends, which aired from 1994 to 2004. Roger Costillo, one of Perry’s best friends, recalled in the series that production on Friends paused in 2001 while Perry entered rehab. Costillo noted that producers had to shut down work until Perry addressed his health.
Bowick explained in the documentary that her brother carried an immense amount of guilt regarding his absences because he knew how many people depended on the show for their livelihoods. Footage included in the series shows Perry discussing his treatment during a 2002 interview with Larry King, where he stated that he asked producers for as much time as possible to focus entirely on sobriety.
During Season 7, Perry commuted between a Malibu rehab facility and the Friends set so he could appear in the wedding episodes for his character, Chandler Bing, and Courteney Cox’s character, Monica Geller. Bowick recalled watching the wedding filming while wondering what the future held, noting the real emotion visible in Perry’s eyes during his vows to Cox.
Cast Silence and Family Perspectives on Camera
Although the five surviving lead actors attended the funeral, none of them participated in the Netflix project. Director Mary Robertson said the filmmakers approached the cast, but they declined to participate.
Robertson explained that she understood their decision, acknowledging that grief remains personal and that not everyone feels comfortable sharing private memories publicly. Instead, the documentary relies on interviews with relatives, longtime friends, and individuals who knew the actor before his television fame, including Bowick, who speaks on camera as a licensed psychotherapist for the first time.