Sarah Paulson Remembers ‘Generous’ Friend Matthew Perry: He Was a ‘Wonderful Guy’

Sarah Paulson has broken her silence about her late friend Matthew Perry, calling the tragically deceased actor a “wonderful guy” while remembering him during a Tuesday, November 21 appearance on The View. 

Recalling how the Friends alum went to great lengths to help her secure a role in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in 2006, Sarah, 48, said, “I just remember him as one of the most generous people on the planet.”

She continued, “I was at a particular place in my career where I needed that job very desperately and he, because of his friendship with Amanda Peet, who was my best friend at the time, who was also on the show, they had done a movie together called The Whole Nine Yards. So he asked me to meet him in the parking lot for my final audition, and I got in his car and he ran the whole scene with me multiple times so that I could have a leg up on the other performer. And I did get the job! So, I sort of credit him with taking that extra time, and he absolutely did not need to do that."

Further remembering just how satisfying it was to make the funny man laugh himself, Sarah concluded, “I had the great pleasure of making him laugh a couple of times and it made me feel really good,” adding that Matthew – who died at the young age of 54 – "was just the kind of person that if you made him laugh or if you made him smile, you felt like you had really arrived."

Matthew died on October 28 after an apparent drowning in the jacuzzi at his Pacific Palisades home. His cause of death has been deferred as of publication until a toxicology report can be concluded. Sarah’s tribute to the late actor joins a chorus of professionals, actors, costars and friends who remembered Matthew, his impressive career and his philanthropic heart. Of all the statements, the joint message released by his five main Friends costars tugged on the heartstrings of fans everywhere. 

“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer said two days after Matthew’s death, before making individual tributes of their own roughly two weeks later. “There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”