Jennifer Aniston remembers 'little brother' Matthew Perry: ‘You always made my day’

Jennifer Aniston is breaking her silence after the death of Matthew Perry, her late Friends costar, who died last month at 54.

“Oh boy, this one has cut deep,” Aniston wrote in a touching tribute posted on Instagram. “Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply.”

Referring to the six core Friends cast members, which also comprised Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, and Courteney Cox, she said Perry was “part of our DNA.”

“We were always the six of us,” Aniston wrote. “This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be. For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn't hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard.”

Aniston included a photo of Perry making her laugh, as she revealed he once texted her with the caption, “Making you laugh just made my day. It made my day.”

Along with a screenshot of the text, Aniston's carousel also features a clip from the Friends finale, in which Rachel says a final goodbye to Chandler before moving to Paris.

Aniston concluded her post with an emotional farewell: “Matty, I love you so much, and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying, ‘Could you BE any crazier?' Rest, little brother. You always made my day.”

Aniston’s tribute comes two and a half weeks after Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home in Los Angeles and pronounced dead at the scene. He was 54. Authorities have said they will need time to determine his cause of death, though foul play is not suspected.

Since Perry's death, fans and fellow stars have celebrated the actor's life and work, including the core Friends cast, who released a joint statement soon after the news. "We were more than just castmates," it read. "We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we're going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss."

LeBlanc shared his own tribute on Tuesday, writing, "The times we had together are honestly among the favorite times of my life." 

Cox, who played Perry’s Friends love interest, followed soon after, posting an outtake from their time on the show. "I am so grateful for every moment I had with you, Matty, and I miss you every day,” she wrote.

Schwimmer also paid tribute to his former costar on Wednesday, writing, “Thank you for 10 incredible years of laughter and creativity.”

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