“Friends” actor Matthew Perry is revealing more details from his life as an addict, including an incident when he reacted with violence upon learning comedian Chris Farley died.
The 53-year-old star recalled the incident as part of his upcoming memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” which is out November 1. Perry has already been making headlines for detailing some of the more shocking truths about his addiction struggle.
In the book, the “Friends” star said “SNL” comedian Farley was his contemporary, and both heavily used drugs and alcohol in 1997. Perry said he was taking 55 Vicodin pills per day at that point. Then he learned of Farley’s overdose death.
“Then, Chris Farley died,” Perry wrote. “His disease had progressed faster than mine had. (Plus, I had a healthy fear of the word ‘heroin,’ a fear we did not share.)”
He reacted strongly to the news. “I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out,” he wrote. Farley was 33 when he died on December 18, 1997.
In another excerpt from the book, Perry detailed how Aniston was one of the few friends willing to confront him about his addictions. He told ABC’s Diane Sawyer about the specifics during a promo interview for his upcoming memoir, as The Daily Wire previously reported.
“Jennifer,” Sawyer prompted, and Perry nodded, confirming Aniston was the one who said something. “Jenny, yeah,” he replied
“She says, ‘We know you’re drinking,’” Sawyer continued.
“Yeah. Imagine how scary a moment that was,” Perry said. “She was the one that reached out the most. You know, I’m really grateful to her for that.”
“I’ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober,” Perry told The New York Times of his efforts. He also mentions in the book that one catalyst for quitting drugs and alcohol was almost dying when his colon burst from opioid abuse. He spent weeks in a coma and then had to use a colostomy bag for nine months.
Perry said, “the doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live.”
“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,” he continued.
The fear of permanently using a colostomy bag is one reason Perry says he’s able to avoid temptations.