“It wouldn’t surprise anyone if I disappeared…” Matthew Perry, a lifetime spent battling addiction.

Chandler Bing’s unforgettable interpreter on the cult sitcom Friends died this weekend at the age of 54. If this iconic role on the small screen largely helped catapult Matthew Perry’s career into orbit, to the point of confounding his many forays into film, his post-Friends would certainly be the most difficult and chaotic of the six major journeys. Performers of the series.

Regularly overcoming her inner demons, the latter appeared physically altered and fragile during the Friends reunion episode, which aired in early summer 2021. Between living a straight life, battling alcohol and drug addiction, multiple detox treatments and relapses. An attitude that he bravely mentioned more than once. And without a filter.

“It wouldn’t surprise anyone if I died…”

“It wouldn’t surprise anyone if I died.” he said last year In an interview with People magazineWhile he was publishing his memoirs, Friends, Lovers and Big Scary Things.

“I had to wait to write all of this until I was sober enough—free from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction. I was sure it would help people.” Perry, who will spend nearly $10 million on dozens of treatments and various detox treatments, commented.

Already addicted to alcohol. Cooked for the first time at the age of 14. Three years after his Friends debut, he developed an addiction to Vicodin (a powerful pain reliever), which he was prescribed after a jet ski accident.

“I was taking 55 Vicodin a day” He commented in 2022 Canadian media CBC. I didn’t watch the show and I still don’t because I could tell: booze, opiates, booze, cocaine… depending on the season, I can tell by my appearance. I don’t want to watch the show because I see it in myself.”

Between using cocaine, alcohol and various painkillers, his body yo-yos until he weighs over 100kg, to the point where he starts taking diet pills. A hellish spiral.

In 2000, he was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. In 2018, he even came close to death, being rushed to the hospital due to a gastrointestinal perforation. In reality, the colon had ruptured due to opioid overdose.

He was hospitalized for five months and spent two weeks in a coma. Only a few of those close to him knew how difficult it had become to manage his addiction. “The doctors told my family I had a 2% chance of living.” he said in an interview people.

Humor, courtesy of despair

While he brings joy to millions of fans around the world who are amazed by Chandler’s adventures, the actor is simultaneously flirting with the abyss. The success of his friends and the great kindness of the team, as well as his loved ones, is what helped him survive.

In later seasons of the sitcom, he was regularly drunk, drugged, or starving on set.

“I couldn’t be an actor for a long time, I wouldn’t be sober enough for that, it wasn’t worth it not to use heroin… When you’re making $1 million a week, no. I can’t have the 17th drink.” Perry wrote.

The actor’s failing health, for example, forced the producers and writers to revise their script in the final, ninth season. In it, Chandler is sent to Tulsa, away from his group of friends and his wife Monica, for a few episodes.

We learned a professional imperative that was not very well experienced by the on-screen couple. An obvious ploy, especially to allow Matthew Perry to step away from the set for a while and try to deal with his addiction issues.

for a long time The interview was broadcast at the end of October 2022 on the ABC channelPerry reveals that actress Jennifer Aniston once confronted him about his alcohol addiction. A sequence that scared him at the time. “We know you drink” the actor told him. “She’s the one who touched me the most” confides the actor “And I’m really grateful to him for that.”

“Secrets Kill People Like Me” He told the channel’s Diane Sawyer. “At one point, I was in a dark room with only drug dealers and all alone” He goes on to list his daily “diet” based on 55 Vicodin pills, along with methadone, Xanax and a quarter bottle of vodka to wash it all down.

When I die, I know they’ll talk about my friends…

The words he made a November 2022 podcast It sounds today as a haunting and painful echo of its tragic course.

“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life, and I’m still dealing with them. But the best part is that if an alcoholic or a drug addict comes to me and asks, can this help me?”, I always say, “Yes, I know how to do it. I can do it.” I’ll do it for you even if I can’t always do it for myself.” I do it all the time, whether it’s in a group or one-on-one.

I created it Perry’s house in Malibu, a receiving structure that allows men to work on their withdrawal. I also wrote a play called The End of Craving, which is a personal message to the world about my extreme form as an alcoholic.

I had important things to say to people like me and those who love people like me.

When I die, I know people will talk about friends, friends, and more friends. I’m happy about that, I’m happy that I’ve done a solid job as an actor and that I’ve allowed people to laugh at my struggle online.

But when I die, as far as my achievements are concerned, it would be nice if my friends would get behind the things I tried to do to help the needy. I know that won’t happen. But I want to.” For so long, the artist…