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Friends was one of the biggest television shows to ever exist. The show began on NBC in 1994 and continued for ten incredible seasons. When the show finally ended in 2004, the cast were each making $1 million per episode. Friends centered around six friends in New York City. The show starred Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, and Matt LeBlanc. While everything was light and funny on the sitcom, one cast member greatly struggled behind the scenes.
Perry has struggled with alcohol and opioid addiction since before his days on Friends, but his addiction only got worse as time progressed. At one point, Perry was taking 55 Vicodin a day. His Friends costars helped him get sober, and he has been in 15 rehab facilities over the years. Let’s get into Matthew Perry’s road to sobriety and how he spent $9 million on getting sober.
8/8 Who Is Matthew Perry?
Matthew Perry is an American-Canadian actor best known for his work on the hit sitcom Friends. On the highly successful television show, Perry played Chandler Bing. The show ran for a decade, and Perry’s character was well loved by viewers.
Perry has dated many high-profile celebrities over the years, including a brief fling with Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Roberts. He got engaged to literary manager Molly Hurwitz in 2020, but they broke up in 2021. Perry does not have any children.
7/8 When Matthew Perry’s Addiction Began
By the time Matthew Perry was cast in the hit sitcom Friends, he was 24 years old, and his alcohol addiction was already beginning to surface. Going from a small actor to one of the biggest stars on television helped his career, but it certainly did not do any favors for his sobriety.
In the first couple of seasons of Friends, Perry had a bit of a handle on his addiction. His dependence on substances, however, only continued to grow. By a decade later he was in real trouble and needed help. From season 3 to 6 of Friends, Perry does not remember much due to his addiction.
6/8 Matthew Perry Sober During Friends Season 9
Fans of the hit sitcom Friends know how often Matthew Perry fluctuated in weight. At one point during filming, Perry was down to only 128 pounds—not a healthy weight for a man of his height and stature. This was when he was taking roughly 55 Vicodin a day.
Season 9 of Friends was the first season that Perry was sober through the entirety of filming. This was one of his first attempts to get clean, though he would continue to fight addiction for many years to come. Perry is not surprised that season 9 of the show was when he was nominated for a best actor award, especially considering how he was much more focused on the role.
5/8 Friends Cast Helped Matthew Perry With Sobriety
The rest of the Friends cast, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, and Matt LeBlanc, were aware of Matthew Perry’s struggle with addiction. They helped Perry whenever they could and were big supporters of him getting sober and staying sober.
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“They were understanding, and they were patient,” Perry has said of his costars’ support. “It’s like penguins. In nature, when one is sick or very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up and walk around until that penguin can walk on its own. And that’s kind of what the cast did for me.”
4/8 How Many Times Has Matthew Perry Been To Rehab?
Matthew Perry has struggled with addiction since his early twenties. While the addiction mainly started with alcohol, Perry also took opioid drugs at the height of his addiction. Over the past three decades, Perry has attempted to get sober and relapsed numerous times.
Perry has been in a rehabilitation facility 15 times over the past thirty years, spending millions on trying to get sober. While he has unfortunately relapsed after each stay in rehab, he has continued to seek help for his disease. He now has the tools to remain sober, and fans hope that the actor will not relapse.
3/8 Matthew Perry Almost Died
Continued opioid use caused Perry to almost die when he was 49 years old. He suffered from a gastrointestinal perforation and spent five months in a hospital after his colon burst from the opioid overuse. He was in a coma for two weeks and needed to use a colostomy bag for nine months.
“The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live,” Perry said of his near-death experience. “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.”
2/8 How Long Has Matthew Perry Been Sober?
Matthew Perry has been fighting his addiction and trying to get sober for roughly three decades. “I’ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober,” Perry admitted. Rehab facilities are unfortunately not cheap, which is why so many people who are struggling are unable to get clean.
Perry recently revealed that he has celebrated 18 months of sobriety. He continues to count every day of his sobriety, as every day is a victory. The timeline of this most recent sobriety indicates that Perry was newly sober for the Friends reunion special on HBO.
1/8 Matthew Perry Wrote Memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing
Now that Matthew Perry is as secure in his sobriety as he ever has been, he chose to share his story of addiction with the world. He published his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing on November 1st, 2022.
Perry needed distance from his addiction to be able to write everything down, which is why it has taken him so long to share his fight. The actor hopes that sharing his story and constant battle with addiction will help others who are trying to get sober.
