‘Friends’ fans react to “heartbreaking” Matthew Perry documentary trailer: “This is going to destroy me”

Matthew Perry fans have shared their emotional reactions to the first trailer for the upcoming Netflix documentary series about the late Friends star.

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Titled The One About Matthew Perry in a nod to Friends’ episode titles, the three-part series will arrive on Netflix on October 27, one day before the third anniversary of Perry’s death.

The first trailer was released yesterday (September 29) and 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 looking at the extraordinary success that followed when he was cast as Chandler Bing on Friends in 1994 – and his eventual realisation that fame had failed to resolve the difficulties he was experiencing in his private life.

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The trailer goes on to address Perry’s decades-long struggle with addiction and his repeated attempts to get sober. His sister says he spent $7million trying to overcome his addiction, while friends discuss the loneliness he experienced despite his enormous public success.

Watch the trailer below:

Matthew Perry’s sister and friends remember the generous, funny and larger than life man who rose to global superstardom — and share how the actor’s honesty became his greatest legacy.

The One About Matthew Perry, an intimate documentary series, premieres October 27. pic.twitter.com/WkQeiF8S3y

— Netflix (@netflix) September 29, 2026

The footage has prompted an emotional response from fans, with one viewer writing: “This is going to destroy me.”

Others described the trailer as “heartbreaking”, with fans sharing how difficult they expected the series to be to watch given Perry’s role in a programme that has remained a source of comfort for generations of viewers.

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”.

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.