Lauren Graham Explains Why Longtime Friend Matthew Perry Had A 'Really Happy' Final Year

Lauren Graham is the latest co-star and friend to say goodbye to the beloved Matthew Perry.

The pair met in 2003 and were sort of romantic near-misses for one another. As the Gilmore Girl put it in her memoir Talking As Fast As I Can, Matthew was her “Friend Who I Almost But Never Exactly Dated” or her “FWIABNED.” They ended up co-starring many times through the years, including in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Odd Couple, and Go On.

Now Lauren is remembering how much happiness he brought her and everyone else. She told CBS Mornings on Thursday:

“No one made me laugh as hard. I mean, just tears streaming. There was just such joy in being around him and being his friend.”

Thankfully, she shares, Matty felt a lot of that joy himself. Particularly in the past year, after releasing his own memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. She explained:

“And I’ll say too, that this last year, he was so proud of the book he wrote and of how many people it touched… and it was a success that gave him a level of happiness that I hadn’t seen in him for a really long time. So that’s a nice memory.”

Awww! So nice to hear! Like everyone else, she’s heartbroken — but does take some comfort in having seen how happy Matthew was with how his book was helping others who suffered with addiction:

“It’s just a really tragic loss and he leaves his beautiful work behind and that’s something to be thankful for. And again, the book really meant something to him. So it was a really happy year for him.”

A “really happy” final year. That is some comfort.

[Image via Brian To/Joseph Marzullo/WENN.]