Lauren Graham opens up about her friendship with late Friends star Matthew Perry

Lauren Graham has always been a busy bee! After starring as Lorelai Gilmore in Gilmore Girls
on the CW, the actress starred in Parenthood, another popular family drama. Fans may also recognize the actress from the film Evan Almighty and It's Kind of a Funny Story. The Gilmore Girls alum is currently on a book tour for her New York Times Best Seller Have I Told You This Already?, a collection of personal stories about Graham's life and career.

In her book, the actress opens up about various events in her life, such as struggling to make it in Hollywood while waitressing in New York City, to booking the CW hit Gilmore Girls. Recently, Graham also opened up about her friendship with Friends star and late actor Matthew Perry. As fans may sadly recall, Perry passed away on Oct. 28, 2023, at the age of 54 due to ketamine use that led to an accidental drowning in his hot tub. Perry's Friends costars shared a joint statement at the time of his passing. It wasn't until several days later that Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courtney Cox, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc made individual statements about the passing of their dear friend.

Due to Perry's connection to Friends, it's easy to forget that Perry was also closed with others in Hollywood, such as Lauren Graham. They met each other in 2008 while filming Birds of America and kept in touch every since.

During a Q&A at the Lincoln Theater in Washington, D.C., while sharing about friendships in the business, Graham opened up about how hard it still is to believe that Perry is gone. Even though the two never officially dated, Graham commented that "while he [Perry] was not technically ever a boyfriend...he was a friend and a constant," Deadline reports.

At this point, Graham already had us in tears, but she continued to share that Perry had just returned to her life after the two went a year without reaching out. In fact, Graham revealed that Perry sent her a gift that March for her birthday. The gift? A pickleball set, a sport Perry enjoyed. From all the stories of close friends and family, it sounds like Perry truly was happy and at peace at the time of his death.

Matthew Perry also included Graham in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. In addition to Friends, Perry also stars in Mr. Sunshine, The Odd Couple, and the movie romantic movie 17 Again.