Kristin Davis recalls being set up with ‘lovely,’ ‘happy’ Matthew Perry

Kristin Davis’ brief fling with the late Matthew Perry was a significant moment in her life and career.

On Monday’s episode of her “Are You a Charlotte?” podcast, Davis — who appeared on “Melrose Place” before landing the role of Charlotte York on “Sex and the City” — recalled getting “set up” with the “Friends” star at the height of the sitcom in the late ’90s.

“I feel like it was between ‘Melrose Place,’ which I did before ‘City,’” the actress, 60, said about the “low-key” dinner party where she met Perry.

“So I go to this dinner party, I bring my little flowers. You know, it’s a bunch of Hollywood people. I don’t
even know who all was there other than this lawyer and Matthew,” Davis explained.

She described Perry, who died in October 2023 at the age of 54, as “lovely,” noting that he sat down next to her and started “talking about how thrilled he is, how happy [he and his co-stars] are on the set at ‘Friends.’”

Perry’s overall joy and zest for his career really impacted Davis.

“I was like, ‘Wow, he’s so happy,’” she thought to herself.

“I had been around ‘Melrose,’ and it wasn’t the happiest place in a way,” she admitted.

“It was stressy. There were 15 series regulars. Everyone had the feeling they might get cut. It was kind of competitive and stressy.”

Despite his cheerful demeanor, Perry battled substance abuse issues and addiction for most of his adult life.

He died from the “acute effects of ketamine,” according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, which determined the manner of his death was accidental.

The autopsy report also listed drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, an opioid, as other factors that contributed to his death.