‘Friends’ stars attend funeral of Matthew Perry

Matthew Perry’s funeral has taken place in Los Angeles, with all five of his Friends co-stars attending the service.

The private laying to rest took place at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, less than a mile from the television studios in which the beloved sitcom was filmed.

According to TMZ, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow were among approximately 20 mourners, as well as Perry’s mother Suzanne Perry, father John Bennett Perry and stepfather Keith Morrison.

Forest Lawn Cemetery is the resting place of many other celebrities, including Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Humphrey Bogart.

Perry – who shot to international fame for his portrayal of the sarcastic yet loveable Chandler Bing – died on October 28 in an apparent drowning in his hot tub. He was 54 years old.

On Wednesday (November 1), it was reported that no trace of either methamphetamine or fentanyl was found in his system at the time of his death. However, law enforcement officials said further tests are being conducted after the results of his initial post-mortem report were “inconclusive”.

In a statement earlier in the week, his five co-stars said: “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family.”

“There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss. In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”

Friends co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, and executive producer Kevin Bright, also paid tribute to Perry in a statement. “We are shocked and deeply, deeply saddened by our beloved friend Matthew’s passing. It still seems impossible. All we can say is that we feel blessed to have had him as part of our lives,” they wrote.

“We send all of our love to his family and friends. This truly is The One Where Our Hearts Are Broken.”

Kauffman also recently recalled her last conversation with Perry two weeks before his death, describing him as being “happy and chipper”.

“He didn’t seem weighed down by anything,” she recalled. “He was in a really good place, which is why this seems so unfair.”

It emerged this week that Perry was planning on asking Zac Efron to play him in a biopic about his life. Athenna Crosby, a friend of the late star, said: “He said that he wanted to make a movie about his life. And he had worked with Zac Efron in the past on a movie, and he said that he wanted Zac Efron to play him as a younger version [of himself] and that he was gonna ask him soon to do that.”

Perry and Efron starred together in the 2009 comedy film 17 Again, playing older and younger versions of the same character.

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