Eulogies for Matthew Perry have been pouring in since his death this weekend, and now, his good friend Hank Azaria has shared how the late actor helped him through his early sobriety.
The comedian posted a video on Instagram where he spoke about his and Perry's friendship — calling him the first friend he made in Los Angeles. According to him, the pair became close after filming a pilot that "never saw the light of day" together, and they were "more like brothers" for years.
He then described reading Perry's memoir, which he picked up and put back down multiple times because it was "so painful," saying, "As his friend who loved him, I knew he must be suffering, but the details of it were just devastating — physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically."
None of this stopped Perry from helping Azaria get sober 17 years ago, as he accompanied him to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
"The night I went into AA, Matthew brought me in," Azaria detailed. "The whole first year I was sober, we went to meetings together … I got to tell him this, as a sober person, he was so caring and giving and wise, and he totally helped me get sober. And, I really wish he could've found it in himself to stay with the sober life more consistently."
After sharing more about Perry's comedic genius, he concluded, "I just wish that I and the world could have gotten what the rest of his career could have been."
Azaria guest starred alongside Perry in a few episodes of Friends, and both of them were in a 2003 production of the play Sexual Perversity in Chicago.
Perry died on Saturday (October 28) after drowning at his Los Angeles home. He was 54.
The comedian posted a video on Instagram where he spoke about his and Perry's friendship — calling him the first friend he made in Los Angeles. According to him, the pair became close after filming a pilot that "never saw the light of day" together, and they were "more like brothers" for years.
He then described reading Perry's memoir, which he picked up and put back down multiple times because it was "so painful," saying, "As his friend who loved him, I knew he must be suffering, but the details of it were just devastating — physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically."
None of this stopped Perry from helping Azaria get sober 17 years ago, as he accompanied him to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
"The night I went into AA, Matthew brought me in," Azaria detailed. "The whole first year I was sober, we went to meetings together … I got to tell him this, as a sober person, he was so caring and giving and wise, and he totally helped me get sober. And, I really wish he could've found it in himself to stay with the sober life more consistently."
After sharing more about Perry's comedic genius, he concluded, "I just wish that I and the world could have gotten what the rest of his career could have been."
Azaria guest starred alongside Perry in a few episodes of Friends, and both of them were in a 2003 production of the play Sexual Perversity in Chicago.
Perry died on Saturday (October 28) after drowning at his Los Angeles home. He was 54.
