The late actor’s mother Suzanne Morrison, stepfather Keith Morrison and sisters spoke exclusively to “Today” on the one-year anniversary of his death

On the one year anniversary of Matthew Perrys death, his family remembers his life and legacy.

In an exclusive interview with Today show’s Savannah Guthrie from the town in Canada where Perry grew up, the Friends‘ the star’s mother Suzanne Morrisonstepfather Keith Morrison and his younger sisters, Caitlin Morrison, Madeline Morrison and Emily Morrison, opened up about their enduring love for Perry.

“Even now, something funny will happen — I’ll see something funny or something ridiculous on the news, I’ll go and call him,” Suzanne recalled. “I have more freedom in a relationship with him now than I ever did. And then it hits me, then it hits me so hard that he’s not there.”

“We go to the cemetery,” Keith recalled, “(and Suzanne will) sit there and talk to him for a while.”

When asked what she misses most about him, Madeline said “everything,” noting how the two shared “little jokes” together. “He was always there,” she shared. Caitlin added, “It was always like a jubilant thing when he would come over.”

“He was grumpy all the time, but he was funny all the time,” said an emotional Emily, after taking time to collect herself. “When the people he loved succeeded or they were afraid, he would do anything for you.”

“All he ever wanted really was to love and be loved,” Emily said. “He fought so hard to feel peace and I think he got to a place where he did.”

Perry died at the age of 54 on October 28, 2023 after an accidental drug overdose. The actor had been open about his decades-long battle with addiction, writing in his 2022 memoir about his time in and out of recovery over the years.

It was an often emotionally tumultuous ride that his family witnessed firsthand. “Even when he struggled in dark times, we were always proud of him,” Caitlin said. “We were always proud of the fact that he kept fighting and that he made it a big focus in his life to help other people.”

“He was always very lonely in his soul,” Suzanne recalled. “I’m a very happy woman, but there was a mistake; there was a problem. I couldn’t overcome it. I couldn’t help him.”

It’s a lesson Suzanne learned the hard way. Chatting with Guthrie, she became emotional as she hinted at some of the guilt she carries, emphasizing that she now knows: “You have to stop blaming yourself because it wears on you.”

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Instead, Suzanne, her family members and Perry’s friends are channeling the pain of their loss for good, bringing the late star’s legacy to life through their work with Matthew Perry Foundation in Canada.

The organization, of which Caitlin is the executive director, is committed to helping others through recovery. (There are also US-based Matthew Perry Foundationwhich supports the same mission, to help them with the disease of addiction.)

“What (Matthew) taught the world is that no amount of money will cure an addict,” Keith said. “Something else is needed, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

“If it doesn’t stop, we’re going to lose so many millions of people,” Suzanne said.

Prior to his death, Perry had received an infusion of ketamine, a “dissociative anesthetic” with “some hallucinogenic effects,” according to US Drug Enforcement Administrationwhich has been used as a treatment for depression and anxiety.

Authorities say the drug turned into an addiction for Perry, and was one of the main causes of his death when the results of his autopsy were revealed in December 2023. Other contributing factors, according to the report, included drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, which refers to a drug used to treat opioid use disorders.

Perry’s family said Today that they were aware that the actor had used ketamine. But as Keith said, “we didn’t know how much of it he took.”

In fact, Keith emphasized that he believed Perry was still sober. “It really seemed like that to me, that he was — even though he had been treated with ketamine, that it hadn’t turned into something that he couldn’t control,” Date line said host. “Although, you know, he was a guy who would make decisions. “I can handle this. I can do this. I can tell you what is right. I know the whole system inside out, I know what the drug will do to me.’ So there was a concern of “What is he really doing?”

“I don’t even know if in his mind he had relapsed,” Madeline said, a point the family agreed with.

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The California branch of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Los Angeles Police Department have since launched an investigation about the circumstances surrounding Perry’s death.

The 15th of August five people were charged in connection with the deathincluding two doctors (Dr. Mark Chavez and Dr. Salvador Plasencia), a woman known as “The Ketamine Queen” (Jasveen Sangha) as well as Perry’s personal live-in assistant (Kenneth Iwamasa).

Three of them has since pleaded guilty. A trial has been set for March 4 for Sangha and Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who pleaded guilty.

Discussing the cases, Suzanne noted that she is “glad” that there has been some accountability – a testament that her husband, Keith, agrees with.

“What I’m hoping, and I think the agencies that they’ve gotten involved in this are hoping, is that people who have put themselves in the business of supplying people with drugs that are going to kill them, that they’re now on notice,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what your professional credentials are. You’re going down, honey.”

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Elsewhere in the conversation, Perry’s family said they all still feel connected to the late actor. “I don’t think there’s a single person in this room who isn’t talking to him,” Caitlin said, noting that they had all stopped to watch Northern Lights the other evenings—a sight that reminded them of Perry. “You can feel divinity in that moment.”

Yet they still feel the heartache of his absence.

“I don’t think grief ever goes away,” Caitlin said. “I’ve found tremendous meaning in thinking that this is not our tragedy. This happens to people every day.”

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Ultimately, the family hopes that by sharing their story, it will be helpful to others going through similar grief.

“(There’s) nothing special about us, especially the fact that we have an extremely remarkable famous family member who went through it,” Keith said. “And people notice and people come up to us all the time and say, ‘Sorry for your loss.’ Well, millions of people have had that loss and we’re very aware of that.”

“This is not about us, it’s about those millions of people,” he added. “It’s a hurting world and it needs some help.”

Today broadcast weekdays starting at 7 a.m. ET on NBC.

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