Julia Roberts says the death of Matthew Perry is “heartbreaking” as he died too young.

The ‘Pretty Woman’ actress, 56, dated the ‘Friends’ star – who died on 28 October aged 54 from an apparent drowning in the jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles aged – from 1995 to 1996.

She told Entertainment Tonight about his shock death: “The sudden passing of anybody so young is heartbreaking.

“I think that, you know, it just helps all of us just appreciate what we have and to keep going in a positive way as best we can.”

Matthew’s cause of death has been “deferred” following an initial autopsy and a toxicology report is pending.

The troubled ‘Friends’ actor, who spent years battling drink and drug addictions that almost killed him, first met Julia when she was offered a role in the post-Super Bowl episode of ‘Friends’, which she only agreed to do if she could be part of one of Matthew’s storylines.

Her cameo saw her play a childhood friend of Matthew’s who gets revenge on him for an old prank by stealing his trousers.

She said about her time on the hit sitcom: “They were all so welcoming to me as just a kind of one-off character and it was a really fun time.”

Julia added she only has “all good thoughts and feelings” about her time on ‘Friends’.

Matthew wrote about his regret at not being handle a relationship with Julia in his tell-all 2022 memoir ‘Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing’.

He said he felt like the “king of the world” alongside the Hollywood A-lister, but confessed his battles with addiction held him back from continuing their relationship.

Matthew wrote in his autobiography: “Dating Julia Roberts had been too much for me. I had been constantly certain that she was going to break up with me. “Why would she not? I was not enough; I could never be enough; I was broken, bent, unlovable. So instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts.”

Matthew added he convinced himself Julia was “slumming it” with him, adding, “I can’t begin to describe the look of confusion on her face.”

Julia went on to marry cameraman DANNY MODER, 54, with whom she shares three children, while Matthew’s other exes included actresses Lizzy Caplan, 41, and 56-year-old Lauren Graham.