Lauren Graham revealed Matthew Perry bought her a pickleball set for her birthday in March 2023 — just months before his tragic death.
“He’s, like, really into tennis and pickleball,” the “Gilmore Girls” star said Friday during her “Have I Told You This Already?” book tour at Lincoln Theater in Washington, DC, Deadline reported.
Graham, 57, also shared that Perry had attached a card to the present that read, “Be Older.”
“While he was not technically ever a boyfriend, he was an almost in my life,” she explained, adding that the late actor had been “a friend and a constant.”
Explore More
Morgan Wallen arrested on felony charges after allegedly throwing chair off bar roof
Kourtney Kardashian pokes fun at Kim's infamous diamond earring meltdown
Morgan Wallen fans savagely boo Taylor Swift after singer makes joke at Indianapolis show
“We would stretch for a year, then he would come back in my life, and he had just come back in my life last year,” the actress shared.
Graham, who casually dated Perry in the early 2000s, said “it’s still really hard to believe” that the “Friends” star is gone and called his death “a terrible loss.”
Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023, at his Los Angeles, Calif., home after his use of ketamine caused him to drown in his hot tub. He was 54.
The year before his death, the “17 Again” star released a memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” in which he detailed his struggles with addiction, his time on his beloved NBC sitcom as well as his personal relationships.
Want more celebrity and pop culture news?
Start your day with Page Six Daily.
Thanks for signing up!
The book included an old photo with Graham with the caption, “Me and the beautiful Lauren Graham.”
“The solace I take from having seen him at the time I saw him was he was so thrilled with how his book was received,” the “Parenthood” star told the audience at her Q&A event Friday.
“And not just because it was a huge success, but because his life’s work kind of became, ‘How can I give back? How can I talk about the struggles I had and hopefully help someone else?’”
Graham previously reflected on her closeness with Perry last November, recalling how happy he made her feel.
“No one made me laugh as hard,” she said on “CBS Mornings” at the time. “I mean, just tears streaming. There was just such joy in being around him and being his friend.”
Graham was in a relationship with actor Peter Krause for more than 10 years until their breakup in 2021.
