"The addiction ravaged me" — When Matthew Perry shared how Matt LeBlanc saved a scene on Friends during his toughest times

Late actor Matthew Perry's role as the sarcastic Chandler Bing on Friends earned him worldwide popularity. He appeared on the sitcom for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 along with David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, and Jennifer Aniston.

However, throughout the show's successful run, Matthew Perry reportedly battled drug and alcohol addiction in private. In his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, published on November 1, 2022, the actor talked about his addiction issues and how it impacted his work on the iconic sitcom, Friends.

Perry revealed that while filming one particular scene in Central Perk, he "fell asleep right there on the couch" and was nudged awake at the right moment by Matt LeBlanc, who played Joey Tribbiani on the show. He recalled the incident by writing:

"The addiction ravaged me — one time, in a scene in the coffeehouse when I'm dressed in a suit, I fell asleep right there on the couch. Disaster was averted only when Matt LeBlanc nudged me awake right before my line; no one noticed, but I knew how close I'd come."

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What did Matthew Perry say about his battle with addiction in his memoir?

In his memoir, Matthew Perry offered readers a heartbreaking look into his lifelong battle with addiction. He revealed that he had his first sip of alcohol at age 14 and, soon after, became addicted to drinking, like his father John Bennett Perry. The Whole Ten Yards actor also shared that he got hooked on painkillers years before he stepped on the set of Friends.

He went on to add that his addiction spiralled out of control after he had a jet ski accident while filming the 1997 romantic comedy Fools Rush In opposite Salma Hayek. According to his book, Perry was prescribed Vicodin for the pain and his addiction escalated to the point that he began taking 55 pills in a day 18 months after of the accident.

Moreover, Matthew Perry attributed his fluctuating weight and changing appearance on Friends to his addiction. He said in the book that he could tell what substance he was addicted to based on his looks in different seasons of the show:

"When I'm carrying weight, it's alcohol; when I'm skinny, it's pills; when I have a goatee, it's a lot of pills."

Matt LeBlanc wasn't the only friend to support Perry during the difficult time in his life. He said that Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green on the sitcom, once confronted him by saying that people could smell alcohol on him.

Nevertheless, Perry told Diane Sawyer during an interview for ABC in October 2022 that he was "grateful" to the Marley & Me actress for reaching out to him the most.

Nearly one year after the book's release, Matthew Perry died of acute effects of ketamine on October 28, 2023, at age 54, as reported by The New York Times.

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Matthew Perry's last acting role was in The Kennedys: After Camelot

Matthew Perry and his co-stars are seen at the premiere of The Kennedys After Camelot in 2017 (Image via Getty)

In 2017, Matthew Perry starred in the miniseries The Kennedys: After Camelot, which aired between April 2 and April 9, 2017, on the Reelz network. The two-part miniseries was inspired by J. Randy Taraborrelli's 2012 book, After Camelot: A Personal History of the Kennedy Family 1968 to the Present. It also served as a sequel to The Kennedys, an eight-episode miniseries released in 2011.

Matthew Perry played Ted Kennedy, while Katie Holmes starred as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the historical drama series. It also featured Diana Hardcastle, Kristen Hager, Kristin Booth, Barry Pepper, Brett Donahue, and Tom Wilkinson as various members of the Kennedy family.

The Kennedys: After Camelot was produced by Kevin Lafferty and executive produced by Michael Prupas, Steve Michaels, Evan Tussman, Jonathan Koch, and many others.

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All episodes of Friends are available to stream on HBO Max.