Netflix Docuseries Reveals New Matthew Perry Stories 3 Years After Ketamine Death
Updated
Updated · Rolling Stone · Oct 27
Netflix Docuseries Reveals New Matthew Perry Stories 3 Years After Ketamine Death
3 articles · Updated · Rolling Stone · Oct 27
Summary
A new three-part Netflix series, “The One About Matthew Perry,” features first-time public comments from sister Mia Perry Bowick and other confidants about the actor’s private life and final years.
The documentary revisits Perry’s 2023 death at 54 — authorities said he drowned in his hot tub from the acute effects of ketamine — and the criminal case that later sent his assistant, dealer and three others to federal prison.
Archival footage, memoir audio and interviews trace his rise from a child of divorce to Chandler Bing on “Friends,” where sudden fame failed to ease long-running feelings of inadequacy and addiction.
Friends say alcohol use began at 14, opioid dependence followed a 1997 injury, and repeated rehab stays were punctuated by career setbacks, a 2018 colon perforation and a visibly difficult 2021 “Friends” reunion.
The series frames Perry’s later years through recovery work and advocacy, arguing that even as he helped others with addiction, he remained unable to fully escape his own struggle.