Culture 4 min read By Lauren Baxter
Netflix Releases Trailer for Matthew Perry Documentary as Fans Brace for Emotional Watch
The first trailer for Netflix's three-part documentary 'The One About Matthew Perry' has prompted emotional reactions from Friends fans, who call it 'heartbreaking' ahead of its October 27 premiere.
Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for its upcoming three-part documentary series about the late Friends star Matthew Perry, and the response from fans has been immediate and deeply emotional. Titled The One About Matthew Perry in a nod to the sitcom's famous episode naming convention, the series is set to premiere on October 27, one day before the third anniversary of Perry's death.
The trailer, released on September 29, combines previously unseen family photographs and videos with testimony from Perry's sister Mia Perry Bowick, lifelong friends, former girlfriends, and colleagues from throughout his career. It opens with Perry reflecting on his lifelong desire to become famous, before tracing the extraordinary success that followed when he was cast as Chandler Bing on Friends in 1994, and his eventual realization that fame had failed to resolve the difficulties he was experiencing in his private life.
The footage goes on to address Perry's decades-long struggle with addiction and his repeated attempts to get sober. His sister reveals that he spent $7 million trying to overcome his addiction, while friends discuss the loneliness he experienced despite his enormous public success. The documentary includes the first extensive interview with Perry Bowick since her brother's death.
«It's taken time for me to feel ready to share these memories and what it was like to love Matthew through all the complexity of his life — to see him as a whole person, not just as Chandler and not just as someone who struggled with addiction,» she said when the series was announced. «Matthew had a beautiful heart and a generous spirit, and even in his darkest moments, he could still make you laugh and feel loved.»
The series is directed by Mary Robertson, whose credits include Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV. She said the aim was to show «the person behind the public figure,» describing Perry as «one of the comedic geniuses of our time.»
Fans have responded to the trailer with an outpouring of grief and anticipation. One viewer wrote, «This is going to destroy me.» Others described the trailer as «heartbreaking,» with many sharing how difficult they expected the series to be to watch given Perry's role in a show that has remained a source of comfort for generations of viewers.
Perry starred in all 10 seasons of Friends between 1994 and 2004 alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer. He was found unresponsive at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023, aged 54. His death was later ruled to have been caused by the acute effects of ketamine, with drowning and coronary artery disease listed as contributing factors.
Earlier this year, Perry's live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa was jailed for three years and five months after admitting to repeatedly injecting the actor with ketamine, including on the day he died. Several other people were also convicted and sentenced in connection with supplying Perry with the drug.
Perry had spoken openly about addiction throughout the latter years of his life, including in his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers And The Big Terrible Thing. Last year, Aniston also said that the Friends cast had been «mourning» Perry long before his death because of the severity of his addiction struggles.
The documentary series arrives as a new chapter in how Perry's story is told, moving beyond the headlines to offer an intimate portrait of a man whose comic gift brought joy to millions while he privately battled demons that ultimately proved fatal. For fans, the trailer is both a promise of closure and a painful reminder of what was lost.
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