Friends role didn't bring Matthew Perry joy, happiness or peace, says George Clooney

Hollywood star George Clooney says Matthew Perry had a hard time staying happy even after bagging one of the central characters on the long-running sitcom Friends.

Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the comedy series, died at the age of 54 on October 30 after being found unresponsive at his Pacific Palisades home here.

An autopsy report released last week said that Perry died from the "acute effects of ketamine". Other contributing causes of the 54-year-old's death were given as coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine.

In an interview, George shared what Mathew was like off camera as he reflected on their friendship.

"I knew Matt when he was 16 years old. We used to play paddle tennis together... And he was a great, funny, funny, funny kid,” George revealed to Deadline.

George, who made an appearance as Dr Michael Mitchell on the hit sitcom, shared that Matthew would tell him how much he wanted to be on a sitcom when hanging out with fellow actors Richard Kind and Grant Heslov.

"I just want to get on a sitcom, man. I just want to get on a regular sitcom and I would be the happiest man on earth," Mathew said, according to George.

Despite that, he noted that Matthew didn't feel content even when he landed the role of the funny pal on 'Friends', which also starred Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc.

"He got on probably one of the best ever," George said. "He wasn't happy. It didn't bring him joy or happiness or peace. And watching that go on on the lot-we were at Warner Brothers, we were there right next to each other-it was hard to watch because we didn't know what was going through him. We just knew that he wasn't happy," he added. George also revealed that he wasn't aware of his addiction struggles.

Matthew Perry passed away on October 29. He was reportedly found drowned in a jacuzzi in his home in Los Angeles. In his autobiography, Perry addressed his addiction extensively, stating that during his lowest points, he needed to take 55 potent painkillers a day to get through a day of filming.