Los Angeles, Oct 31 (IANS): Jennifer Aniston wept over the "idea of losing" ‘Friends’ co-star Matthew Perry 19 years before his shocking death.

The actress, 54, who starred as Rachel Green alongside Matthew in 'Friends' for a decade, shared her devastation over his passing on Saturday, October 28 aged 54 in a joint statement released on Monday with the rest of her grieving co-stars from the sitcom, reports aceshowbiz.com.

An interview has resurfaced from 2004 when Jennifer told Diane Sawyer, 77, of her terror over the prospect of Matthew dying before his time.

"That he's alright," Jennifer said when Diane asked what her former 'Friends' co-star didn't know about himself and needed to hear.

She then became emotional as she started to refer to his decades battling drink and drugs addictions, adding: "He struggled, and we didn't know. We weren't equipped to deal with it. Nobody had ever dealt with that. And the idea of ever losing him… ."

Perry said he was downing a quart of vodka and 55 Vicodin a day in the depths of his addictions. While promoting his memoir "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing" last year, Matthew thanked Jennifer for her support as he battled to recover.

He told Diane Sawyer in October 2022: "She was the one that reached out the most. You know, I'm really grateful to her for that."

The troubled star added it was Jennifer who initially confronted him during the filming of 'Friends' and told him the cast knew he was drinking. Matthew added: "Imagine how scary a moment that was." But he also hailed Jennifer as "wonderful," "terrific," and "the greatest" for caring about him.