Jennifer Aniston: We mourned Matthew Perry before his death
The Golden Globe-winning actress, 56, starred alongside Perry in the popular US sitcom for 10 years from 1994 to 2004.
Speaking about Perry's long-term battle with addiction, which he famously struggled with throughout his role as the sarcastic Chandler Bing, Aniston said: 'We did everything we could when we could.
'But it almost felt like we'd been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight.'
Perry died in 2023 aged 54 from the acute effects of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home.
He had written about his battles with addiction the year before in his bestselling memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.
'I have mostly been sober since 2001, save for about 60 or 70 little mishaps,' he wrote.
Speaking about the death of her former close friend and co-star, Aniston told Vanity Fair: 'As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there's a part of me that thinks this is better. I'm glad that he's out of pain.'
She had previously spoken about her fear of losing him to his addiction in a broadcast interview with Diane Sawyer.
The actress became emotional when discussing it, adding: ' We weren't equipped to deal with it …the idea of even losing him…he's having a road, but he's all right.'
In 2018, Perry suffered a burst colon after overdosing on opioids and underwent multiple surgeries.
Aniston previously paid a touching tribute to the actor, saying that his life 'literally depended on' making people laugh.
She played Rachel Green in the hit US sitcom Friends which also starred Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc.
Discussing its impact on her career with the US magazine, she said: 'What helped raise me is something I got to put into the world and help other people.
'If [Friends] was the only thing on my resume, I would be very happy and blessed.'
Elsewhere, the actress also spoke about her star turn as famous news presenter Alex Levy on The Morning Show, which is returning to Apple TV in September for a fourth season.
Her love interest in the show is a rocket-building billionaire played by Jon Hamm. When asked if the character is loosely based on Elon Musk she disagreed, saying: 'I don't find him desirable in any way or shape.'
She also spoke about the media frenzy she faced in the 2000 when her relationship with Brad Pitt, 61, hit the headlines, particularly during their divorce in 2005.
Aniston said: 'It was such juicy reading for people. If they didn't have their soap operas they had their tabloids.
'It's a shame that it had to happen, but it happened. And boy did I take it personally.'
She added: 'I didn't have a strong enough constitution to not get affected by it. We're human beings, even though some people don't want to believe we are.
'They think, 'You signed up for it, so you take it'. But we really didn't sign up for that.'
The actress also revealed that she swaps stories about Pitt with his ex-fiancee Gwyneth Paltrow, 52, saying: 'Of course, how could we not? We're girls.'
The full interview appears in Vanity Fair's September issue.
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