Netflix’s three-part docuseries The One About Matthew Perry debuts worldwide on October 27, 2026, offering an intimate look at the late actor’s life through interviews with those who knew him outside the spotlight, including his sister Mia Perry Bowick.
Mia Perry Bowick Shares Her Brother’s Private Struggle
The three-part docuseries is a celebration of Perry’s life instead of a mournful tribute or true-crime drama. As Robertson explains, It was very important to me that this film be as funny as it could be, and that we find levity in the darkness and in the sorrowful moments,
adding that she hopes viewers understand the size of the monster that was sitting on Matthew’s shoulders rather than only focusing on his death. Mary Robertson directed the project.
Bowick recalls that her brother was in a coma on an iron lung with his fingertips turning black, and his months-long hospital stay marked the first time she thought to herself that he wouldn’t wake up. When he finally went home from the hospital, he was in very bad shape with an open wound in his gut, a colostomy bag, and an appearance that had aged 20 years in three months.
Production Pauses and the Realities of the Sitcom Years
Longtime friend Roger Costillo recalls in the docuseries that production on Friends had to shut down temporarily in 2001 so Perry could enter treatment. As Perry’s sister noted, the actor carried significant emotional weight regarding his work commitments.
There was an incredible amount of shame and guilt that came along with that, because he knew how many people were working on these shows, that their livelihood was dependent on it. He hated that he had to do that to people, but he also knew that he had to get well.
Mia Perry Bowick
During a 2002 interview with Larry King featured in the documentary, Perry talked about his rehab experience, explaining that he asked Friends producers for the maximum amount of time they could give him without guaranteeing his return, noting that the producers simply shot around him. Later, during the production of a film called Serving Sara, his struggles with addiction became so severe that he had to pause production to seek treatment, with his father, John Bennett Perry, rushing to his side to escort him to a treatment center.
The documentary also explores lighthearted moments from his career, including how Bruce Willis guest-starred on Friends because he lost a bet. As Jonathan Lynn, who directed Perry and Willis in the 2000 comedy The Whole Nine Yards, explains in the series, Willis believed the film would be a flop while Perry bet it would be a hit. During a lunch break on location at Lake Mead for the same film, producer Doug Draizin notes that Perry got permission to get on a Jet Ski, flung himself in the air, and hurt himself—an injury that marked a turning point in his substance abuse.
Special attention is also given to Fools Rush In, in which Doug Draizin was a producer. During the filming of Season 7 of Friends, which culminated in Chandler Bing’s wedding to Monica Geller, Perry’s family came to watch the taping.
So I think the unspoken truth that we all were sitting with in some way or another was, ‘Is this his wedding?’ I was on set, and I remember watching Monica walk down the aisle, and when Matthew said his vows to her, the emotion in his eyes, everything was so real.
Mia Perry Bowick
Why the Surviving Cast Declined to Participate in the Project
Director Mary Robertson notes that producers reached out to the actors, but they declined to participate.
We did reach out to them, and they declined to participate,
Robertson says, explaining that those close to Matthew were grieving and trying to make sense of what happened while wanting to foster a sense of his legacy in total rather than simply focusing on his death.
When Perry made his final TV appearance at the 2021 Friends reunion special on HBO Max, friends and family noted he was struggling and not quite himself after not being on camera for a while, though he felt relieved and tired after filming it. Bowick recalls arriving at Perry’s funeral in 2023, where the rest of the Friends cast attended.
And then, all five of them walked up to the casket holding hands and stood around him, crying.
Mia Perry Bowick
Each of the three episodes runs about 50 minutes and streams globally on Netflix, offering viewers a comprehensive look at the actor’s life and struggles.