Gwyneth Paltrow recently reflected on her pre-fame romance with late Friends star Matthew Perry in the wake of Perry’s sudden death this weekend. The “Shakespeare in Love” actor and Goop founder on Sunday shared a sweet memory of her “magical summer” with Perry in 1993, roughly a year before “Friends” debuted.
“I met Matthew Perry in 1993 at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts,” Paltrow wrote on Instagram alongside a vintage headshot of Perry. “We were both there for most of the summer doing plays. He was so funny and so sweet and so much fun to be with. We drove out to swim in creeks, had beers in the local college bar, kissed in a field of long grass. It was a magical summer.”
According to Paltrow, Perry had already shot the pilot episode of “Friends” at the time of their meeting. Since the series had not debuted, however, he was not yet aware of the cultural phenomenon that it would become.
“He was nervous, hoping his big break was just around the corner. It was,” she explained.
“I met Matthew Perry in 1993 at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts,” Paltrow wrote on Instagram alongside a vintage headshot of Perry. “We were both there for most of the summer doing plays. He was so funny and so sweet and so much fun to be with. We drove out to swim in creeks, had beers in the local college bar, kissed in a field of long grass. It was a magical summer.”
Paltrow noted that Perry had already shot the pilot episode of “Friends” at the time of their meeting. Since the series had not debuted, however, he was not yet aware of the cultural phenomenon that it would become.
“He was nervous, hoping his big break was just around the corner. It was,” she explained.
“I am super sad today, as so many of us are,” she wrote. “I hope Matthew is at peace at long last. I really do.”
Friends star Matthew Perry had been found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home at age 54.
Perry was alone at home after playing a 2-hour game of pickleball, during which he sent his assistant on an errand. On getting back, they found Perry unresponsive and proceeded to call 911. At the death scene, no hard drugs were found around Perry, only prescription pills. His official cause of death is still being investigated.
According to law enforcement sources, Matthew Perry’s body, which was reportedly found in his hot tub from a suspected drowning, hadn’t been in the water for an extended period.
