'Friends' cast Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courtney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry. Photo / Getty Images
'Friends' cast Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courtney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry. Photo / Getty Images
Matthew Perry says in his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing that he felt “dead inside” due to his addiction
In the book, Perry recalled filming the finale of Friends, as the group of six gathered in Monica Geller’s apartment one last time, reports the New York Post.
Geller and Chandler Bing, played by Perry, along with their baby twins and the rest of the cast, came together for a bittersweet group hug before leaving their keys on the kitchen bench and shutting the apartment door.
“It was January 23, 2004,” Perry wrote. “The keys on the counter, a guy who looked a lot like Chandler Bing said, ‘Where?’ "
“Embryonic Journey by Jefferson Airplane played, the camera panned to the back of the apartment door, then Ben, our first AD, and very close friend, shouted for the last time, ‘That’s a wrap,’ and tears sprang from almost everyone’s eyes like so many geysers,” he continued.
But unlike his co-stars, Perry wasn’t able to shed a tear - he described himself as feeling “numb”.
“We had made 237 episodes, including this last one, called, appropriately enough, ‘The Last One.’ Jennifer Aniston was sobbing — after a while, I was amazed she had any water left in her entire body. Even Matt LeBlanc was crying,” he continued.
“But I felt nothing. I couldn’t tell if that was because of the opioid buprenorphine I was taking, or if I was just generally dead inside.
Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Rachel Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow in the Friends reunion trailer. Screenshot / HBO Max
In the book, Perry opened up about his addiction and struggle with substance abuse which led him into several near-death experiences.
“Not only do I have the disease, but I also have it bad. I have it as bad as you can have it, in fact. It’s back-to-the-wall time all the time. It’s going to kill me,” he wrote.
The actor has spent millions getting sober, has had 14 operations and has “nearly died” on several occasions, even recalling one instance when his heart stopped for five minutes.
“It is very odd to live in a world where if you died, it would shock people but surprise no one,” he said.
He’s now sober, though he has to take an opioid withdrawal drug called Suboxone for the rest of his life.
Perry recalled in his memoir that his Friends co-stars confronted him about his drug and alcohol use after smelling booze on him.
“I made a rule that I would never drink or take anything at work. But I would show up blindly hung over,” he wrote. “I also knew, ‘Remember this because it’s going to be the best time of your life.’ I knew I would never forgive myself if I messed this up.”
The final episode of Friends aired on May 6, 2004. Photo / Supplied
He said Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green on the show, was the one who reached out the most.
Perry recalled praying for fame when he was a teenager, saying, “God, you can do whatever you want to me. Just please, make me famous.”
But his rise to fame only exacerbated his addiction problems, which began when he was 14 and was introduced to drinking. By the time he was 18, he was drinking every day.
