The creators of “Friends” asked Matthew Perry to leave the series during addiction

The one where they remember Matthew Perry.

“Friends” creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane talked about the late actor and learned about his addiction during the show in an interview with The Times UK published Friday.

“By the time we became aware of it, we were already a family on many levels,” Crane, 67, said.

“There was a point where I said, ‘Do you want to stop (being on the show)?’ And he flat out said, ‘No, this is very important to me,’” Crane recalled.

Perry played Chandler Bing on the beloved NBC sitcom that ran from 1994 to 2004.

In her 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry spoke about her addiction and how it affected her performance on Friends.

“You can trace the trajectory of my addiction if you measure my weight from season to season,” Perry wrote in his book.

“When I carry weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m weak, it’s pills. When I have a beakit is many of pills,” he said.

Perry revealed that one of his rehab stints took place right after filming Chandler’s wedding to Monica Geller (Courteney Cox). He said he was “driven back to the treatment center … in a pickup driven by a sober technician” immediately after the scene ended.

The late star also said that Season 9 was the only season of the show that he was fully sober for.

As he recounted in his book, Perry went to rehab 15 times and underwent 14 surgeries to try to mitigate damage to his stomach lining from alcohol and opioid use. He also estimated that he spent around $9 million trying to get sober.

In October 2023, the “17 Again” star was found dead in his hot tub at the age of 54 after a ketamine overdose.

Kauffman, 67, told The Times UK that he had “the most contact” with Perry of all six “Friends” stars before his death.

“About two weeks before (he died), he and I were FaceTiming and he seemed really good,” she said.

Kauffman continued, “Two things come to mind (about how to celebrate it): One is to donate to drug treatment centers — to fight the disease. And the second way is to watch Friends and remember him not as a man who died like that, but as a man who was hilariously funny and brought joy to all.”

On Thursday, Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and four others were charged in connection with the actor’s death.

His assistant told authorities he administered at least 27 ketamine injections to his boss in the last five days of his life, including the last three that prosecutors say led to his “death and serious bodily injury.”

Iwamasa was charged along with two doctors, Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez, as well as alleged street dealer Erik Fleming and Jasveen Sangha, the so-called “Ketamine Queen of Los Angeles.”

Plasencia and Sangha are charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine in connection with Perry’s death.

Fleming, Iwamasa and Chavez entered into plea agreements in exchange for pleading guilty to various charges, including conspiracy to distribute ketamine and conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death.