Hank Azaria has shared an emotional tribute to his late friend and co-star, Matthew Perry.
On Saturday, it was first reported by TMZ and the Los Angeles Times that the beloved Friends star had died at the age of 54 after he was found by authorities unresponsive in a hot tub at his LA home.
Following the heartbreaking news, many of Perry's fans and former co-stars have taken to social media to pay tribute to the actor and share their favorite Chandler Bing moments.
Now, actor Hank Azaria - who starred as Phoebe's boyfriend David "The Scientist Guy" in the hit sitcom - has spoken out about the impact Perry had on his life. Watch his incredible tribute below:
Taking to Instagram, 59-year-old Azaria opened up about the bond he shared with Perry. Fighting back tears. he reminisced about how Perry was "the first friend he made in Los Angeles", adding: "When I moved there, I was 21, he was 16. We did a pilot together called Morning Maggie that never saw the light of day, but Matthew and I became really good friends."
And their camaraderie wasn't just limited to work. They shared many personal moments - which Azaria says made them much like siblings. "We were really more like brothers for a long time. We drank a lot together. We laughed a lot together. We were there for each other in the early days of our careers," Azaria continued.
But what stood out the most for Azaria was Perry's unparalleled sense of humor. "He was, to me, as funny as he was on Friends, and other things too, in person he was just the funniest man ever," Azaria recalled. "He's lived to laugh and every night he was... he was like a genius. He would start to weave comedy threads together, just hanging out.
"A joke here, a joke there, a joke here, a joke there, and then by the end of the night, he'd weave them all together in this like crescendo of hilarity."
Diving deeper into their shared experiences, Azaria touched upon the darker times, saying: "I really loved him. A lot of us close to him really thought we lost him to drugs and alcohol a long time ago... As he documented in his book, in his autobiography, there was so much suffering. I had to pick up and put down that biography like 11 times, it was so painful for me to read."
"I knew he must be suffering, but the details of it were just devastating," Azaria continued.
Azaria - who has been sober for 17 years - then spoke about how Perry supported him during the toughest phases in life, recalling: "The night I went into AA, Matthew brought me in.
"The whole first year I was sober, we both went to meetings together, and he was such a great... I got to tell him this, as a sober person, he was so caring and giving and wise and he totally helped me get sober."
However, Azaria's voice held a tinge of regret when he spoke of Perry's intermittent battles with sobriety. "I really wish he could have found it in himself to stay with the sober life more consistently, but as a recovery guy, it was hard to read that too," Azaria admitted.
He continued, emphasizing Perry's brilliance as an actor: "It's one of the terrible things about this disease is it just takes away the person you love, and, you know, professionally, as an actor, he was so brilliant.
"I just wish I and the world could have gotten what the rest of his career would have been."
BBC News has since reported that a post-mortem conducted on Perry yielded inconclusive results, and authorities are currently awaiting toxicology test outcomes. Additionally, a Los Angeles Police representative told CBS News that there were no evident signs of trauma.
On Sunday, the LA County Medical Examiner's office provided an update, indicating the case was pending further review. Typically, this suggests that the autopsy has been carried out, but that additional information is still required, per BBC News.
Our thoughts continued to go out to Perry's family, friends, and fans at this time.
