The actor struggled with alcohol addiction way before he got into the role of Chandler in “Friends”
TW: Alcoholism
Matthew Perry has revealed the reason why he has never watched his own series, “Friends,” and why he doesn’t plan on watching it anytime soon.
Matthew played one of the main characters of the show as Chandler. The other lead cast are Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer.
UNILAD dove into the reason and found that he was struggling with addiction during his time on the “FRIENDS set.” Amid his funny performance and the admiration the show gained for Chandler’s romance with Monica (Courteney), Matthew grappled privately with substance abuse.
According to co-star Lisa’s revelation in 2002 to The New York Times, “Hard doesn’t even begin to describe it. When Matthew was sick, it was not fun. We were just hopelessly standing on the sidelines. We were hurting a lot.”
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Lisa, who played Phoebe in the show, further emphasized, “Matthew is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life. He’s charming and hilarious. Most of our hard laughs came from Matthew.”
Matt Leblanc, who played Chandler’s roommate Joey, shared the same sentiments.
“I tried to talk to him. There wasn’t a response. It’s such a personal struggle; they need to bottom out on their own,” he said in a 2002 interview.
In 2022, during the promotion of his memoir “Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing,” Matthew revealed the reason behind his dread of revisiting his performance on the show.
He explained to CBC, “I didn’t watch the show, and haven’t watched the show, because I could go, ‘Drinking, opiates, drinking, cocaine.’ I could tell season by season by how I looked. That’s why I don’t wanna watch it, because that’s what I see.”
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He also recounted a particularly challenging incident on set.
Matthew shares, “At one point, I was shaking so much that if I was gonna go from the bookshelf to the table, I’d have to quickly do it and put my hand on the table so I wouldn’t shake.”
The actor emphasized that “it got that bad.”
Matthew’s struggle with alcoholism started before he embraced the role of Chandler and persisted throughout the “Friends” era.
By 2018, the situation reached a critical juncture, nearly costing him his life. Matthew revealed he had been hospitalized for a gastrointestinal perforation; however, the truth was more dire–his colon had burst due to opioid use. He endured five months in the hospital, two of which were spent in a coma, with a mere two percent chance of survival.
He recalled, “The doctors told my family that I had a two percent chance to live.”
Matthew has embraced sobriety since August 19, 2021. The actor continues sharing his experiences to make others aware of his struggles and the dangers of addiction.
Banner Image Paulo Correa
