Who is René Ashton? Matthew Perry’s ex reflects on their romance in new doc

As the Friends star Matthew Perry's unfortunate death in 2023 was a huge shock to his fans globally, a new three-part docu-series, The One About Matthew Perry, just dropped on Netflix on October 27, 2026. In the newly released docu-series, Perry's former girlfriend René Ashton opened up about her relationship with him and discussed how the Fools Rush In actor struggled with the immense success of Friends.

René Ashton, who, according to IMDb, is an actress-turned-writer and producer, was in a romantic relationship with the late Matthew Perry in 1999 and broke up with him after dating for close to a year. She is known for TV shows such as NCIS: Los Angeles and This Is Us.

In the Netflix original docu-series, directed by Mary Robertson, which focuses on Matthew's Hollywood success and his rise to stardom after his breakthrough role in Friends, Ashton reflected on her romance with Perry and talked about how he wanted to be a serious actor. Ashton in the docu-series said:

"I was in love with him because he’s, at the core, good people."

While mentioning how Perry faced difficulty dealing with the massive success after Friends and wanting to be an actor who did serious work, René Ashton said:

"When you think of Matthew Perry you think, 'Oh, he had it all.' But Matthew was concerned about what’s next. [He was like], 'What’s next? How am I gonna maintain this? How am I gonna supersede this?' Matthew wanted very much to be a serious actor. He wanted to be known as a serious actor. That was really important to him."

René Ashton opens up about Matthew Perry working on The Whole Nine Yards

In The One About Matthew Perry, which, besides Perry's stardom, also explores his struggles with drugs and alcohol and his advocacy work, René Ashton discussed his then-boyfriend's work on the Bruce Willis starrer, The Whole Nine Yards.

Ashton, in the documentary, revealed how she and Perry were invited by Bruce Willis to go to the Turks and Caicos Islands with him before they began filming The Whole Nine Yards, directed by Jonathan Lynn. She said:

"Before he went to shoot The Whole Nine Yards, Bruce asked him and I to go to Turks and Caicos with him and his then-girlfriend."

Ashton added:

"It was pretty amazing. There weren’t any paparazzi there so it was a nice, normal and fun trip. And when Bruce asked him and I to go on his private plane, Matthew was so excited. He’s like, 'Bruce wants us to go on his private plane. Bruce wants me to share a plane with him.'"

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The One About Matthew Perry is currently streaming on Netflix.

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