Update: In a statement to People, Matthew Perry apologized for questioning why Keanu Reeves is still alive in his new memoir. “I’m actually a big fan of Keanu,” Perry said. “I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.”
—
Matthew Perry’s upcoming memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, is set to be released next week. Like many Hollywood memoirs, Matthew Perry’s is full of revelations, scandals, and more, but one rather bizarre portion dares to take aim at the beloved Keanu Reeves, and fans are not having it.
At several points in Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew Perry throws random digs at Keanu Reeves, wondering why he’s still living when “talented” actors and “original thinkers” like River Phoenix and Chris Farley are no longer with us.
“The list of geniuses who were ahead of their time is too long to detail here — suffice to say, near the top of any such list should be my costar in ‘A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon,’ River Phoenix,” Perry wrote. “River was a beautiful man, inside and out — too beautiful for this world, it turned out. It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down. Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us? River was a better actor than me; I was funnier. But I certainly held my own in our scenes — no small feat, when I look back decades later.”
When discussing Chris Farley, who Perry starred alongside in Almost Heroes, the Friends actor again brings up Keanu Reeves remaining among the living. “[Farley’s] disease had progressed faster than mine had. (Plus, I had a healthy fear of the word ‘heroin,’ a fear we did not share),” Perry wrote. “I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves walks among us. I had to promote ‘Almost Heroes’ two weeks after he died; I found myself publicly discussing his death from drugs and alcohol. I was high the entire time.” No matter what you may think of Keanu Reeves’ acting ability, the dude is one of the nicest people in the industry, so it should come as no surprise that Perry’s comments have set the internet aflame.
Matthew Perry’s Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing will be released on November 1st.