Gwyneth Paltrowis reflecting on her old friendMatthew Perryas the actor’s former costars and fans reckon with the news of hisdeathon Saturday at age 54.
Paltrow, 51, shareda brief romancewith Perry in the summer of 1993 when he was on the brink of rocketing to worldwide fame as part of the cast ofFriends.
Sharing a headshot of a young Perry with her Instagram followers, Paltrow wrote in her caption that she met Perry at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts, where the two young actors spent “most of the summer doing plays.”
“He was so funny and so sweet and so much fun to be with,” she recalled. “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 added that, while Perry shot theFriendspilot around the time that to to know one another, the show “had not aired yet,” and Perry was “nervous, hoping his big break was just around the corner.”
“It was,” she wrote. “We stayed friends for a while until we drifted apart, but I was always happy to see him when I did. I am super sad today, as so many of us are.”
“I hope Matthew is at peace at long last. I really do.”
Santiago Felipe/Getty
Perry previously wrote about his fling with Paltrow in his 2022 memoirFriends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, where he noted that the pair shared a brief “make-out session in a closet” beforeFriendsaired.
As he toldGQwhen asked about his mention of Paltrow in the book during an interview last year, Perry hoped she’d “find it to be a cute story."
“It’d be bad if Gwyneth Paltrow hated me; I wouldn’t like that,” he added.
Matthew Perry poses for a photo in New York City on April 27, 2017.Noam Galai/Getty
Noam Galai/Getty
Perry wasfound deadat his Los Angeles-area home on Saturday. According toTMZ, first responders received a call about a cardiac arrest at the actor’s residence after a man was found in a jacuzzi. The outlet added that no drugs were found at the scene and no foul play was reported.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told PEOPLE Saturday that officers responded to a call at Perry’s address regarding the death of a male in his 50s, but would not confirm the deceased’s identity.
Representatives for Perry did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Since then,fans and friends in Hollywood and beyond have been paying tributeto the actor, includingFriendscostarMaggie Wheeler, former classmate and Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeauand friendShannen Doherty, to name a few.
They added, “You all meant so much to him and we appreciate the tremendous outpouring of love.”
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source: people.com
