How Matthew Perry struggled with addiction during production.
How Our fav chandler struggled with addiction during production.
Friends icon Matthew Perry, revealed that while his addiction was at its peak, he used to steal prescription medicines from open houses.
The actor who portrayed the snarky Chandler Bing on the popular NBC comedy went into great detail about his struggles with addiction in his fascinating biography.
Meanwhile, in an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer on Friday, October 28, Matthew Perry acknowledged that he used to go to open houses on Sundays, went into the bathrooms to see what med
Matthew Perry's Drug Addiction
According to Matthew Perry, viewers of Friends can tell whether he has taken drugs or alcohol by looking at his weight and facial hair in any given episode. Friends star asserted this in his book ''Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.''
Matthew Perry said that any individual could determine how his addiction developed by comparing his weight from season to season. He used to consume alcohol when he was overweight; pills were his go-to when he was in shape, and lots of pills were his vice when he had a goatee.
Keanu Reeves Criticized by Matthew Perry
The actor Keanu Reeves is also harshly criticized in Matthew Perry’s memoir. Before the book's publication, when only excerpts were released with Friends actor questioning why Reeves was alive, unlike the icons who died at an early age such as River Phoenix. Later, Matthew Perry apologized for the insults when the statements were made public.
Is Matthew Perry a drug addict?
Matthew Perry's issues with alcohol started when he was 14 years old. He first drank beer and wine, then progressed to vodka and prescription medicines.
Does Matthew Perry have any children?
Matthew Perry is the father of his adopted child, Alfred.
1997
A Vicodin addiction led to a heavy amount of drinking. Perry entered rehab for the first time in 1997, spending 28 days at the Hazelden center in Minnesota. He only briefly stayed sober.
2000
In May 2000, the 17 Again star was hospitalized for two weeks for alcohol-related pancreatitis. By fall of that year, he was detoxing on the Friends set. His appearance drastically changed during the hiatus between seasons 6 and 7.
2001
In February 2001, with less than two weeks left of filming Serving Sara, Perry finally decided to ask for help and production paused for two months. "Everything's clear for one split second," he recalled to The New York Times. "I realized I've got to go save myself. I got on the phone and called the people who were willing to help me."
2002
After two and a half months in a private rehab center, Perry finally was able to finish Serving Sara and return to Friends, as well as focus on bettering himself. In 2002, he did a number of interviews, explaining his road to recovery and finally getting to a good place.
2011
"I’m making plans to go away for a month to focus on my sobriety and to continue my life in recovery,” Perry said in a statement in 2011. "Please enjoy making fun of me on the World Wide Web."
2013
Two years later, the Massachusetts native opened up the Perry House, a sober living home for men in Malibu. “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life and a lot of wonderful accolades,” he told The Hollywood Reporter of his journey two years later. "The best thing about me is that if an alcoholic comes up to me and says, ‘Will you help me stop drinking?’ I will say, ‘Yes. I know how to do that.'"
2018
In 2018, the Go On alum spent three months in the hospital and underwent surgery to repair a gastrointestinal perforation.
2021
After being delayed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the cast of Friends reunited for the first time on screen in 17 years.
“He was great. People can sometimes just be unkind. I wish they weren't," Ben Winston, who directed the Friends: The Reunion, said of those commenting on Perry's appearance during the HBO Max special. "I loved working with him. He’s a brilliantly funny man and I thought he had some great one-liners in the show. I felt just happy and lucky to be in his presence and directing him on something like this."
2021
In July 2021, he shared a rare candid photo via Instagram, showing off a huge smile. "Happy days," Perry captioned the still.
2022
"So much has been written about me in the past. I thought it was time people heard from me. The highs were high, the lows were low. But I have lived to tell the tale, even though at times it looked like I wouldn’t. And it’s all in here. I apologize it’s not a pop up book," Perry tweeted alongside the announcement for his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
2022
Ahead of the November release of his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, the Odd Couple alum opened up about his near-death experience after his colon burst from opioid overuse when he was 49.
"The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live," Perry told PEOPLE in October. "I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that's called a Hail Mary. No one survives that."
The actor added that his past health scares, including the scars from his 14 stomach surgeries, serve as reminders to stay sober.
"My therapist said, 'The next time you think about taking Oxycontin, just think about having a colostomy bag for the rest of your life,'" he told the outlet. "And a little window opened, and I crawled through it and I no longer want Oxycontin anymore."
