Actress Jennifer Aniston has opened up on her Friends late co-star Matthew Perry`s years-long struggles with addiction, saying that they started "mourning" Perry long before his demise, reported Variety. In an interview with Vanity Fair, as quoted by Variety, Aniston discussed Perry`s years-long struggles with addiction, calling it one of the hardest fights for the actor, his fans and co-stars. 

"We did everything we could when we could," Aniston said of her and her colleagues` efforts, which Perry also expressed in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, as per Variety. "But it almost felt like we`d been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight. As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there`s a part of me that thinks this is better. I`m glad he`s out of that pain," added Aniston as per the Variety. 

According to the outlet, Perry passed away on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54 from what the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner`s Office in December 2023 said were the "acute effects of ketamine." His body was discovered in the hot tub of his Pacific Palisades home, with the autopsy report also listing drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid use disorder, as contributing to his death, reported Variety.