- Julia Roberts has remembered the late Matthew Perry
- The two friends also dated once
- THIS is how Julia recalls Matthew's memory
The tragic death of star Matthew Perry on October 28 rocked Hollywood and served as a reminder that, as he had written about in his own memoir, despite his incredible success fortune, Perry was incredibly lonely. Not only did the 54-year-old star die alone at his Los Angeles home in a jacuzzi of an apparent drowning, but he never fulfilled his own dream of a wife and children.
Julia has nothing but fond memories
Hollywood is in mourning, and so is Julia Roberts, the Oscar-winning actress who once stole the heart of the charming and witty Matthew Perry. In a touching interview with Entertainment Tonight, Roberts opened up about the "heartbreaking" loss of her former flame, who left the world all too soon.
"All good thoughts and feelings," Roberts said of her experience on the beloved sitcom, when she guest starred as a childhood classmate of Perry's "Chandler Bing" in the 1996 episode, "The One After the Super Bowl." Perry later wrote in his 2022 memoir that, off camera, he and Roberts had engaged in a "three-month-long courtship" at the time.
The news has sent shockwaves through the celebrity world, with many paying tribute to the actor's legacy. Julia Roberts, the "Pretty Woman" herself, dated Perry back in the mid-'90s, a romance that blossomed from an unconventional courtship. Perry went to great lengths to win her over, including a quirky challenge involving quantum physics, which he detailed in his 2022 memoir, 'Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.'
Their connection ignited on the set of 'Friends,' where Roberts guest-starred as a vengeful childhood friend of Chandler. "They were all so welcoming," Roberts reminisced, cherishing the memories and the "really fun time" she had.
But their love story, as revealed by Perry, was not without its complications. Despite the chemistry, Perry's insecurities led to the relationship's demise.
He feared he was "not enough" for the A-list actress, a sentiment that led him to end things before she could. Roberts, on the other hand, once described Perry as "clever, funny, and handsome" on The Late Show With David Letterman in 1996, showing just how smitten she was.
Matthew was smitten
According to the actor, he became "captivated" by what the future Oscar winner wrote. "The way she strung sentences together, the way she saw the world, the way she articulated her unique thoughts, all was so captivating," Perry recalled.
"I sent her three dozen red roses and the card read: 'The only thing more exciting than the prospect of you doing the show is that I finally have an excuse to send you flowers,'" he recalled in the book, going on to detail the timeline of their relationship.
"Three or four times a day I would sit by my fax machine and watch the piece of paper slowly revealing her next missive," he wrote. "I was so excited that some nights I would find myself out at some party sharing a flirtatious exchange with an attractive woman and cut the conversation short so I could race home and see if a new fax had arrived."
He praised Roberts for her faxes and her intellect, writing, "It was like she was placed on this planet to make the world smile, and now, in particular, me. I was grinning like some 15-year-old on his first date."
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"Two months later, I was single," Perry added. "Dating Julia Roberts had been too much for me. I had been constantly certain that she was going to break up with me. Why would she not? I was not enough; I could never be enough; I was broken, bent, unlovable."
Perry had convinced himself that Roberts was "slumming it" with him, adding, "I can’t begin to describe the look of confusion on her face." Roberts went on to marry Danny Moder in 2002. The couple welcomed twins Hazel and Phinnaeus in 2004 and son Henry in 2007. Perry, for his part, was engaged to Molly Hurwitz from 2020 to 2021.
The tale of their whirlwind romance is one for the books, a brief yet intense chapter in the lives of two of Hollywood's brightest stars. As the world remembers Matthew Perry, Julia Roberts holds onto the good thoughts and feelings from a time that, though fleeting, left an indelible mark on her heart.
