Why was Matthew Perry’s father absent from Netflix’s new documentary about the ‘Friends’ star?

Mia Perry Bowick says she took responsibility for sharing her family’s perspective on her brother’s life

Matthew Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, has explained why their father, John Bennett Perry, did not appear in Netflix’s new documentary about the late Friends actor, revealing that he has been unwell for a long time.

The three part documentary, The One About Matthew Perry, explores the actor’s life and struggles through interviews with people who knew him personally. Released this week, the series includes Mia’s first interview since her brother died in October 2023 at the age of 54.

In the documentary, Mia explains that their father would have welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the project and share his son’s story, but his health prevented him from taking part.

“He’s been ill for a long time,” she says, explaining why John could not participate. She adds that it ultimately fell to her to represent the Perry side of the family in the documentary.

John and Matthew shared the screen on several occasions during their careers, including in the romantic comedy Fools Rush In and an episode of the medical comedy Scrubs. Their family connection formed part of Matthew’s life beyond his best known role as Chandler Bing on Friends.

The documentary also features the absence of the original Friends cast. Director Mary Robertson confirmed in an interview with The New York Times that Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer were approached to participate but declined.

Robertson said the filmmakers understood that the cast loved Matthew and were grieving his death, while confirming that they had chosen not to be interviewed.

Netflix describes the documentary as a collection of personal testimonies from family and friends, examining Matthew’s humour, vulnerability and the difficulties he faced throughout his life.

Matthew Perry died in October 2023. His death prompted renewed attention to his long documented struggles with addiction, which he had discussed publicly during his lifetime.

The One About Matthew Perry is available to stream on Netflix.