Allison Janney is recalling how a bit of advice from the late Matthew Perry changed the way she speaks.
During an appearance on the Reclaiming With Monica Lewinsky podcast on Tuesday, the Diplomat star shared a fond memory of her former costar amid a discussion about her self-exploration journey through psychedelics, MDMA, mushrooms, and even astrology.
“He said one of the funniest things to me because sometimes I tend to mumble if I’m talking and I sort of give up on my sentence halfway,” Janney reminisced on meeting Perry, whom she worked with on various projects including the short-lived Mr. Sunshine series, as well as The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
She continued, “I was doing that with him because I was so sort of intimidated by him because he’s so f—ing funny. And I was saying something to him and I just thought maybe he had lost interest, so I [began mumbling] and he said, ‘Allison, did you even hear what you just said?’ [I replied] ‘Matthew, I get your point.'”
Matthew Perry and Allison Janney on ‘Mr. Sunshine’.
Michael Desmond/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Janney reiterated that she “just loved him” and lamented that the late Friends alum died while under the influence of their shared form of therapy — ketamine.
Perry died in 2023 from the “acute effects of ketamine,” with drowning, coronary artery disease, and effects of buprenorphine, a prescription medication used to treat opioid use disorder, as contributing factors. He was 54.
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“I have done assisted ketamine journeys with a doctor here in Los Angeles, but it’s all about set and setting of course,” Janney told Lewinsky of her personal experiences with the anesthetic. “And to do it in an office with a doctor — it’s an amazing experience for me.”
The Mom alum shared that she began ketamine infusion therapy shortly after her mother’s death. “It was right after COVID and I was in such a dark place. I heard about this kind of therapy and I went to this doctor and it was some of the best thing.”
Having such a positive experience makes Perry’s death particularly hard, Janney admits. “I was obviously so sad that Matthew went that way ’cause I just loved him so so much,” the actress told Lewinsky. “And obviously he was using it in ways that he shouldn’t be using it… He just made me laugh so much.”
At the time of Perry’s death, authorities said there was no indication of foul play. His autopsy report noted that Perry had been receiving legal but controversial ketamine infusion treatment around the time of his death. However, because ketamine has a short half-life, the traces of the substance in his system couldn’t have been from one of those treatment sessions, the report said.
A subsequent investigation into the actor’s death led to Jasveen Sangha, the Los Angeles woman known as the “Ketamine Queen,” and four other individuals being charged in August 2024: Kenneth Iwamasa, the late actor’s personal assistant, who admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training; Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez, two doctors accused of distributing ketamine to Perry; and Erik Fleming, an acquaintance of Perry’s who allegedly took on the role of middleman between the actor and Sangha.
All five defendants have now pleaded guilty in the case and are awaiting sentencing.
Watch Janney’s discussion with Lewinsky on the Reclaiming podcast above.