Matthew Perry Reflected on 'Special,' Unbreakable Bond with “Friends” Costars Years After the Show

The actor said the sitcom "changed my life in every way" and "was the time of my life"

Matthew Perry cherished his connection with the Friends cast.

The actor — who was found dead at 54 on Saturday — starred as Chandler Bing on Friends when it aired for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. He was joined in the popular sitcom by costars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer.

In May 2021, the stars got back together for HBO Max's Friends: The Reunion special, as well as an exclusive PEOPLE cover story.

"It changed my life in every way. I got the show when I was a 24-year-old man; the show ended when I was 34. It formed my life. And it was the time of my life," Perry told PEOPLE at the time.

Related: Remembering Matthew Perry's Life and Career in Photos

During the reunion special, Perry got emotional explaining the enduring bond he has with his Friends costars.

"The best way that I can describe it is after the show was over, at a party or any kind of social gathering, if one of us bumped into each other, that was it. That was the end of the night. You just sat with the person all night long and that was it."

He continued, "You apologized to the people you were with, but they had to understand you had met somebody special to you and you were going to talk to that person for the rest of the night. And that’s the way it worked."

As Aniston agreed and Cox began crying, Perry added, "It’s certainly the way it worked with all of us. It’s just the way it is."

Ben Winston, who co-directed the reunion special, told The Hollywood Reporter at the time that he "loved" working with Perry.

"He’s a brilliantly funny man and I thought he had some great one-liners in the show," said Winston. "I felt just happy and lucky to be in his presence and directing him on something like this."

Related: The Best 'Friends' Throwback Photos

Perry's memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing was published in November 2022, and Kudrow wrote the introduction for the book. He opened up about his addiction struggles, which included during his time on the show.

He told PEOPLE in an October 2022 interview that his castmates were very supportive of him during their run on the show.

"They were understanding, and they were patient," Perry said at the time. "It's like penguins. In nature, when one is sick or very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up and walk around until that penguin can walk on its own. And that's kind of what the cast did for me."

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