Phoenix 24
Family testimony and private archives promise a more complete portrait of the actor behind the familiar character.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Netflix will release a three-part documentary series about Matthew Perry, examining his career, private struggles and legacy beyond the role that made him internationally famous. Titled The One About Matthew Perry, the production will premiere globally on October 27, almost three years after the Friends actor’s death.
Directed by Emmy winner Mary Robertson, the series combines previously unseen photographs and videos from the Perry family’s private archive with accounts from relatives, lifelong friends and creative collaborators. Perry’s younger sister, Mia Perry Bowick, provides testimony about loving and supporting him through the most complicated periods of his life.
The documentary will trace Perry’s progression from an emerging comic actor to global celebrity as Chandler Bing. It will also examine his long struggle with substance dependence and his decision to speak publicly about addiction. The producers say their objective is to present him as a complete person rather than defining him exclusively through either his most famous character or his health difficulties.
Netflix has not confirmed whether Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc or David Schwimmer will appear. Their participation therefore remains uncertain, despite the central role that Friends played in Perry’s life and in the enduring public interest surrounding him.
Perry was found unresponsive at his Los Angeles home in October 2023 and died at the age of 54. Authorities determined that the acute effects of ketamine were the primary cause, with drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine listed as contributing factors. Subsequent criminal cases resulted in prison sentences for people connected to the supply and administration of the drug. The documentary now faces a delicate challenge: confronting those circumstances without allowing the manner of Perry’s death to eclipse his talent, relationships and efforts to help others confronting addiction.
Hechos que no se doblan. / Facts that do not bend.