Matthew Perry's Mother Shares Her Unbroken Connection With Late 'Friends' Actor

Actor Matthew Perry touched millions of lives, but a few stand out the most: his family.

The beloved "Friends" actor passed away one year ago this week, and his family have gathered on the TODAY Show to remember his legacy.

His mother, Suzanne, has opened up about the adjustment she has faced since losing her son. Remembering that he is no longer with them has been an emotional hurdle she is still facing every single day.

The Perry-Morrison family sat down with TODAY host Savannah Guthrie to reflect on their lives one year since their beloved son's shocking death.

Mrs. Morrison spoke to Guthrie about a final conversation she shared with the "Fools Rush In" actor.

She shared, "He came up to me and said, ‘I love you so much and I’m so happy to be with you now." She also shared with the audience that their conversation had taken place "when he went through a period interestingly enough" where he had shown his mother "one of his new houses," she recalled, per People.

Mrs. Morrison has taken the time to reflect on the conversation in the wake of her son's passing, and she believes it now has a quality that she did not think of at the time: the conversation felt like a final one.

"It was almost as though it was a premonition of something. I didn’t think about it at the time but I thought, ‘How long has it been since we’ve had a conversation like that?' It’s been years," she recalled.

Perry had been outspoken regarding his struggle with addiction, sharing his heart, and how the 'big terrible thing' he referenced in the title of his memoir, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing" impacted his life. The memoir was released in November of 2022.

"I think there was something… there was an inevitability to what was going to happen next to him, and he felt it very strongly," she explained. "But he said, ‘I’m not frightened anymore.’ And it worried me."

As Perry's family sat around to reflect on the first year without the "Whole Nine Yards Star," Mrs. Morrison revealed she still shares moments with her late son; they just look a bit different today.

"Even now, something funny will happen — I’ll see something funny or something ridiculous on the news, l go to call him," Mrs. Morrison explained.

"I have more freedom of a relationship with him now than I ever did. And then it hits me, then hits me so hard that he’s not there," she continued.

Her husband, Perry's stepfather Keith Morrison, then revealed to Guthrie that his wife still "chats" with their son during family visits to the cemetery.

"[Suzanne will] sit there and have a chat with him for a while," Keith explained of their family's visits to spend time with Perry.

Keith also shared his immediate feelings about his son's passing in a recent interview with Hello! Canada Magazine.

"When [Matthew] suddenly died, it was incredibly shocking… anybody who has lost a child will tell you that, even if you are in some way prepared for the possibility, it’s shattering. What we have decided to do is hang on to that determination and try to do something useful," Mr. Morrison explained to the outlet.

The 'useful' element Mr. Morrison refers to could perhaps be The Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada, the family's foundation designed to help those suffering from addiction find recovery and help guide them through the process.

Perry's sister, Caitlin, serves as the foundation's executive director, according to its website.

Perry's younger sister opened up to Hello! Canada about the work she does with The Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada.

"The work that I'm doing now is very selfish because it kind of feels like I'm sitting right next to Matthew, working with him every day on something that was important to him," Caitlin explained.

Helping those suffering from addiction find their path to sobriety was how the funnyman would like to be remembered, according to his father.

"He would like to be remembered for doing something to help people suffering from addiction," Keith shared with the publication.

Caitlin went on, "I have this treasure of getting to keep him very, very close to my life all the time," a process she says is "wonderful."

Her brother will always be an essential figure in the mental health advocate's life. The biggest lesson Perry brought to his little sister's life was "that no matter how many times you fail, you haven't failed until you stop trying," per Morrison's biography on the foundation's website.

Perry passed away from a Ketamine overdose on October 28th, 2023. The actor was 54 years old.