Friends star Matthew Perry opens up about addiction battle
Matthew Perry is getting candid in his new memoir!
The Friends superstar has written an autobiography titled Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, which is due to be released on November 1.
Ahead of its release, the 53-year-old has shared a sneak peek into the book’s contents, which include his lengthy battle with addiction during his time playing Chandler Bing on the popular American sitcom.
Speaking to People, the actor explained why he decided that now was the right time to tell his story. "I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober — and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction — to write it all down,” Matthew admitted. “And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people."
At the beginning of his memoir, Matthew shares the shocking detail that he almost died a few years ago, when he was just 49. At the time, he made it known publicly that he was unwell, but he kept the severity of the situation private.
As a result of a burst colon from years of opioid overuse, Matthew spent two weeks in a coma and five months in hospital. "The doctors told my family that I had a two percent chance to live," he wrote honestly.
Matthew also admits that when he got the part of Chandler at the age of 24, his alcohol addiction was beginning to emerge – but by the time he turned 34, things had gotten out of control.
The acting legend shares that although he tried to hide his addiction from his fellow Friends castmates, his peers knew something was wrong. “They were understanding, and they were patient," he noted in his memoir.
"It's like penguins,” he added. “Penguins, in nature, when one is sick, or when one is very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up. They walk around it until that penguin can walk on its own. That's kind of what the cast did for me,” he gushed.
Now that he is sober, Matthew wants to be able to use his story to help others struggling with addiction. "What I'm most surprised with is my resilience. The way that I can bounce back from all of this torture and awfulness,” he amazed.
“Wanting to tell the story, even though it's a little scary to tell all your secrets in a book, I didn't leave anything out. Everything's in there," he promised.
We can't wait to get our hands on Matthew's memoir when it arrives in bookstores next month!
