Gwyneth Paltrow Recalled Her "Magical Summer" Fling With Matthew Perry Before They Were Famous

Gwyneth Paltrow just shared details about her little-known romance with Matthew Perry following the news of the actor's death. On Sunday, the actress posted a moving tribute to the late Friends star on Instagram, reflecting on a "magical summer" they shared together in 1993 before they both became famous. 

Alongside a headshot of a young Perry, Gwyneth revealed that she met him at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts while they were both "doing plays" that summer. "He was so funny and so sweet and so much fun to be with," she recalled, adding: "We drove out to swim in creeks, had beers in the local college bar, kissed in a field of long grass. It was a magical summer." Paltrow went on to note that while Perry shot the Friends pilot already, the show had not aired yet and Perry was "nervous, hoping his big break was just around the corner." 

"It was," she noted of his impending fame. "We stayed friends for a while until we drifted apart, but I was always happy to see him when I did." Gwyneth concluded, "I am super sad today, as so many of us are. I hope Matthew is at peace at long last. I really do."

Last year, Perry previously opened up about his brief romance with Paltrow in his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, admitting that they had "a make-out session a closet" at a party. "We slipped off into a broom cupboard and made out," he wrote. "We were both still unknown enough that it didn't make it to the tabloids."

Perry continued, "This was the last summer of my life when I could make out at a party with a beautiful young woman called Gwyneth and no one, save Gwyneth and I, cared."