Matthew Perry, known best as Chandler Bing on NBC’s Friends, has recently opened up on his lifelong struggles with addiction, and his long, painful road to recovery.
The Friends star spoke in an interview with ABC News’s Diane Sawyer, primarily discussing his upcoming memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.” Perry’s memoir is focused on his childhood and his rise to stardom which proceeded to influence his addiction. He’s stated that he hopes this book will help a lot of people, as Perry’s addiction cost him around nine million dollars; a combination of about 6,000 AA meetings, 65 detoxes, 14 surgeries, 30 years of therapy, and countless trips to rehab. The 53-year-old includes in the interview that every detail of his addiction will be in his memoir, as he knows there are readers going through similar circumstances.
In 2001, while filming Friends, Perry was also filming Serving Sara, a romantic comedy with Elizabeth Hurley. The actor revealed that he was consuming Xanax, Methodone, and a quart of vodka each day of filming. Matthew even stated that his speaking parts in the movie had to be dubbed, as his speech was typically slurred. Throughout the filming of Friends, Perry made a vow to never drink on set. However, he would show up ‘shaking and crazy hungover’, as Co-Star Jennifer Anniston describes. Perry even explains which drug he was addicted to while watching previous episodes. He describes how his weight would fluctuate; When consumed by alcoholism, Perry gained weight. When addicted to pills, He would lose pounds and pounds by the dozen.
Perry strived for change after his near-death overdose experience. His colon had burst after taking too many opioids and was given a two percent chance to live.
Perry has been completely sober since 2021.
