Matthew Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, said she still accidentally phones her son to chat with him about everyday life and is heartbroken realizing that he’s not there to pick up her call.
“Even now, I’ll see something funny or ridiculous on the news, or whatever it is, I go to call him,” Morrison told “Today’s” Savannah Guthrie in Perry’s family’s first sit-down interview since the actor’s death nearly one year ago. She went on to say that while Perry has died, she now feels closer to him, as the actor struggled with addiction for years.
“I have more freedom of a relationship with him now than I ever did. It hits me so hard that he’s not there,” Morrison continued.
The conversation included Morrison, Perry’s sisters Caitlin, Emily and Madeline, and Perry’s step-father and Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison. Both of the actor’s parents referred to their child as seemingly melancholy and sad in nature.
“It must be said, I think, that he was also very lonely in his soul,” his mother, Suzanne Morrison shared.
“The sort of exterior that people know about, an insecure, often very sad, guy,” Keith chimed in.
Since Perry’s death, his family has launched the Matthew Perry foundation, which seeks to provided recovery assistance to those struggling with addiction. Perry underwent a decades-long journey through addiction, which he opened up about in his 2022 memoir “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.”
The “Friends” actor was found dead at his home in Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2023. Before his death Perry was receiving ketamine infusions, which is sometimes prescribed to treat for anxiety and depression. It ultimately turned into an addiction, and the Morrisons said they learned about his death after receiving a very blunt phone call.
“Somebody called Suzanne and he just said, ‘Matthew’s dead,’” Keith said.
Though the family knew he was taking the drug, the family said Perry assured them that he’d be all right taking the medication.
“We didn’t know how much he was taking,” Keith said, adding that he thought Perry was sober at the time of his death, and that he thought the medication didn’t become “something [Perry] couldn’t control.”
“He was a guy who would make decisions: ‘I can handle this. I can do this. I can tell you what’s right. I know the whole system inside and out. I know what the drug will do to me.’ So there was that worry that, ‘Mm, what’s he really doing?’” Keith continued.
Morrison said, she felt like she was unable to “help him” at one point, but is working on now blaming herself for her son’s death.
“The one thing that I have to learn very hard to do and that’s one of the reasons why I want to support Katie however I can is you’ve got to stop blaming yourself because it tears you up,” Morrison said, growing emotional.
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