Jennifer Aniston speaks in first interview since Matthew Perry’s death

Actress Jennifer Aniston says her “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry was happy when she spoke to him via text messages the morning of Oct.

28. By nighttime, Perry would be dead.

In an interview with Variety, Aniston said, “He was happy. He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that’s all I know,” Aniston told the magazine. “He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy.”

Perry was found dead at his Los Angeles home by his assistant. The actor’s official cause of death is on hold until toxicology reports come back.

“I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy. He was on a pursuit. He worked so hard,” Aniston He really was dealt a tough one. I miss him dearly. We all do. Boy, he made us laugh really hard.”

Actress Reese Witherspoon, Aniston’s co-star on Apple TV’s “The Morning Show,” played Aniston’s sister on “Friends,” she said sitting next to Anniston for the Variety interview, “… I remember going home and going, oh, they’re in another league. They’re on another planet on comedy levels that I’ve never seen my entire life, pivoting on a dime and working on each other’s energy and it was extraordinary.”

Actor Zac Efron mentioned Perry in his speech while accepting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.