In Matthew Perry's memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big, Terrible Thing, the Friends prima revealed conscionable however adjacent helium came to dying successful 2018. While saying successful a sober surviving location successful Southern California, his colon "exploded" from years of opioid overuse. The histrion ended up spending 2 weeks successful a coma and 5 months successful a hospital. Perry besides had to usage a colostomy container for 9 months, which helium noted broke astatine slightest 55 times. ("Dear Colostomy Bag People: marque a container that doesn't break, you f--king morons," helium jokes. "Did I marque you laughter connected Friends? If so, don't enactment crap each implicit my face.")

"I had been connected opiates, and disconnected opiates, and backmost connected antithetic opiates for truthful agelong that I suffered from a concern that lone a subset of the colonisation gets," Perry wrote of his organ exploding, sharing helium had 14 follow-up surgeries aft the archetypal seven-hour exigency procedure. "Opiates origin constipation. It's benignant of poetic. I was truthful afloat of crap it astir killed me."

As helium was successful surgery, Perry revealed his household and friends who arrived astatine the infirmary were told, "'Matthew has a 2 percent accidental of making it done the night.' I will person to unrecorded retired the remainder of my days knowing that my parent and others heard those words."

Perry was primitively expected to person a relation successful Adam McKay's Netflix film Don't Look Up, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep. But a aesculapian scare caused him to exit the Oscar-nominated movie.

During a 2020 enactment astatine a Switzerland-based attraction center, Perry admitted helium falsified symptoms to person a medicine of hydrocodone, which proved to beryllium adjacent fatal erstwhile mixed with the propofol helium was given for a surgery. "I was fixed the changeable astatine eleven a.m.," Perry wrote. "I woke up 11 hours aboriginal successful a antithetic hospital. Apparently, the propofol had stopped my heart. For 5 minutes."

While helium didn't person a bosom onslaught oregon flatline, Perry explained, "Nothing had been beating. I was told that immoderate beefy Swiss feline truly didn't privation the feline from Friends dying connected his array and did CPR connected maine for the afloat 5 minutes, beating and pounding my chest. If I hadn't been connected Friends, would helium person stopped astatine 3 minutes? Did Friends prevention my beingness again?"

Ultimately, the life-saving tactics caused 8 breached ribs and Perry was successful "too overmuch pain" to proceed filming Don't Look Up, which helium called "heartbreaking," and the 1 country helium did implicit did not marque the last chopped of the movie. 

"I person spent upward of $7 cardinal trying to get sober," Perry revealed. "I person been to six 1000 AA meetings. (Not an exaggeration, much an educated guess.) I've been  to rehab 15 times. I've been successful a intelligence institution, gone to therapy doubly a week for 30 years, been to death's door." Now, astatine property 53, Perry has been sober for 18 months.

"Sobriety had present go the astir important happening successful my life," Perry wrote. "Because I learned that if you enactment thing successful beforehand of sobriety, you volition suffer that 'anything' anyhow if you drink."

In the book, Perry shared that helium viewed intoxicant arsenic his "best friend," admitting, "I would person gone brainsick without it...Learning to determination guardant successful beingness without it was tantamount to asking idiosyncratic to spell astir his oregon her time without breathing." And, aft suffering an wounded connected the acceptable of Fools Rush In, Perry developed an addiction to Vicodin and was taking 55 pills a time earlier checking into rehab for the archetypal clip successful 1997.

While filming Friends successful 2000, Perry spent 30 days successful the infirmary being "fed fluids done an IV" aft helium was told his excessive drinking was the origin of his pancreatitis.

"'F--k that,' I said," Perry recalled telling the doctor. "No. I don't portion excessively much.' Pancreatitis astatine the property of 30 was unheard of. Yay for me! Another record."

While recovering successful the hospital, Perry was fixed Dilaudid, an opioid that changes the brain's narration to pain. "It was my caller favourite drug," helium admitted, "and I would person stayed successful that infirmary for a 100 days if they kept administrating it."

Three years earlier they were formed successful Friends, Perry and Aniston met done communal acquaintances and helium was "immediately taken by" her. Believing the attraction was mutual, Perry asked Aniston out, an connection she declined. "But she said she'd emotion to beryllium friends with me," Perry recalled. "And I compounded the compound by blurting, 'We can't beryllium friends!'"

While helium admitted helium was "still attracted" to her erstwhile the Friends formed assembled for the archetypal time, Perry wrote, "We were capable to sail close past the past and absorption connected the fact  that we had some gotten the champion occupation Hollywood had to offer." (Though helium aboriginal admitted helium was "crushing badly" connected Aniston aboriginal connected successful the show's run, but her "deafening deficiency of interest" yet brought it to an end.)

As for his archetypal impressions for the remainder of his co-stars, Perry described Courteney Cox arsenic "cripplingly beautiful" and Lisa Kudrow arsenic "just arsenic gorgeous and hilarious and incredibly smart" arsenic a communal person had said she would be. Matt LeBlanc was "nice and a chill customer," portion David Schwimmer was "incredibly funny."

Perry said the six actors formed a adjacent bond, writing, "From that archetypal greeting we were inseparable."

Perry shared that helium temporarily mislaid a person aft helium was formed connected the NBC hit, having landed the portion aft adjacent pal Craig Bierko take to prima successful different aviator alternatively than play Chandler, a determination that led Bierko to not talk to Perry for years. In the positive column, though, the bid saved his life.

"It is not retired of the realms of anticipation that I whitethorn person ended up connected the streets of downtown LA shooting heroin successful my limb until my untimely death," helium wrote, adding that it was "such a bully and amusive job" that it was worth remaining sober for—"for awhile, astatine least."

"I was the 2nd baseman for the New York Yankees. I couldn't f--k that up," helium reasoned. "I would ne'er forgive myself. When you're earning $1 cardinal a week, you can't spend to person the seventeenth drink."

But it would beryllium his friends on Friends that would assistance to erstwhile prevention his beingness again during the show's run, most notably Aniston, who confronted Perry about his drinking.

"'We tin odor it,' she said, successful a benignant of weird but loving way, and the plural 'we' deed maine similar a sledgehammer," Perry wrote of the conversation, which helium described arsenic "devastating" and said led him to prosecute a sober companion astatine enactment (though helium aboriginal revealed that the ninth play was the lone 1 helium was wholly sober during).

In the book, Perry revealed helium was capable to concisely permission his attraction halfway successful Malibu to movie Chandler and Monica's wedding successful play seven.

"When I arrived, Jen Aniston said, 'I've been huffy astatine you,'" Perry recalled. "'Honey,' I said, 'if you knew what I'd been through, you would not
be huffy astatine me.'"

"With that we hugged, and I got the enactment done," helium continued. "I joined Monica and got driven backmost to the attraction center—at the tallness of my highest constituent successful Friends, the highest constituent successful my career, the iconic infinitesimal connected the iconic show—in a pickup motortruck helmed by a sober technician."

Perry and the Erin Brokovich star were erstwhile an point successful the '90s, a narration and successful the book, the histrion candidly opened up astir their little romance, which began soon aft Roberts signed connected to impermanent prima successful a 1996 occurrence of Friends. 

While they lone dated for 2 months, Perry recalled gathering Roberts' parents for the archetypal clip erstwhile helium joined her household travel to New Mexico to ringing successful the New Year, detailing a peculiar infinitesimal the mates shared.

"We jumped successful this large bluish motortruck and drove up a mountain, snowfall swirling around," the 17 Again star wrote. "Eventually we reached a mountaintop, and for a infinitesimal the upwind cleared, and we could spot New Mexico and beyond, each the mode backmost to Canada. As we sat there, she made maine consciousness similar the king of the world. A gentle snowfall was falling, and with that, 1996 began."

But their romance only lasted 3 months because "dating Julia Roberts had been excessively overmuch for me," Perry admitted. "I had been perpetually definite that she was going to interruption up with me. Why would she not? I was not enough; I could ne'er beryllium enough; I was broken, bent, unlovable. So alternatively of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beauteous and superb Julia Roberts."

Just earlier Friends premiered successful September 1994, Perry kissed Gwyneth Paltrow successful a closet portion helium was visiting his gramps successful Massachusetts and the Goop laminitis was doing a play successful the area.

"At some big enactment we slipped disconnected into a broom cupboard and made out," helium detailed. "We were some inactive chartless capable that it didn't marque it to the tabloids."

Paltrow wasn't the lone prima Perry had a concealed brushwood with, the histrion divulging the details of a day helium went connected with Cameron Diaz conscionable aft she broke up with Justin Timberlake successful 2007.

"The day was astatine a meal enactment with a clump of different people, but upon seeing me, Cameron got astir instantly stoned," Perry wrote. "It was wide that she wasn't funny successful maine astatine all."

And during a crippled of Pictionary, Diaz meant to playfully punch Perry successful the shoulder, "but she missed," Perry recalled, "and instead, punched maine smack successful the broadside of my face. 'Are you fucking kidding me?' I said, realizing I'd conscionable been punched successful the look by Cameron Diaz."

Perry revealed helium "fell madly successful love" with the Hot successful Cleveland actress erstwhile they filmed the 1990 movie Sydney and that helium was having "elaborate fantasies astir her leaving Eddie Van Halen and surviving retired the remainder of her days" with him instead. (Bertinelli and Van Halen were joined from 1981 to 2007 and remained adjacent until the Van Halen guitarist died successful 2020.)

According to Perry, helium and Bertinelli had "a long, elaborate make-out session" portion her rocker hubby was passed retired "not 10 feet away."

"I told her I had thought astir doing that for a agelong time," helium divulged. "And she had said it close backmost to me." However, Perry was near "devastated" when Bertinelli ne'er mentioned what happened again...until Oct. 27, erstwhile she posted a TikTok successful effect to Perry's revelation astir their kiss.

In the video, Bertinelli waves astatine the camera and smiles, earlier facepalming and shaking her caput arsenic the lyrics "It's maine / Hi / I'm the problem, it's me" from Taylor Swift's "Anti-Hero" play successful the background. "Anyone other misbehave successful their 20's and aboriginal 30's?" she captioned the post. "Are you mortified?"

The 2 remained engaged aft Perry returned to Los Angeles, though the histrion admitted thinking, "'Wait...how did I get engaged? There are dogs surviving successful my house. How did this happen?'"

Reflecting connected his determination to propose, Perry connected it to his fearfulness of abandonment. "I bought her a ringing due to the fact that I was hopeless that she would permission me," helium admitted Ultimately, Perry said helium "was not ready" for matrimony oregon immoderate benignant of commitment.

"You went down connected 1 genu to propose, which truly wounded your stomach, remember?," helium wrote. "I didn't remember—needless to say, we broke up."

Several of Perry's comments about The Matrix star—including a transition wherever he questioned wherefore "Keanu Reeves inactive walks among us" arsenic helium reflected on the deaths of "original thinkers" River Phoenix and Heath Ledger—made headlines, leading Perry to contented an apology.

"I'm really a large instrumentality of Keanu," the histrion told People successful an Oct. 26 statement. "I conscionable chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should person utilized my ain sanction instead."