Matthew Perry says his path to addiction began in his early teens when he drank a “full bottle” of wine.
The 53-year-old Friends actor, speaking with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer on Friday, said he had “never had a drink before” before the experience at age 14, which affected him immensely.
“I lay in the grass and I was in heaven,” said Perry, who is promoting her new memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, which details her battle with addiction. ‘I was like, ‘This must be how normal people feel all the time.’
Latest: Matthew Perry, 53, says his path to addiction began in his early teens when he drank a “full bottle” of wine. The Friends actor, speaking with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer on Friday, said he had “never had a drink before” before the experience at age 14, which affected him immensely.
The Williamstown, Massachusetts native added: “At 18, I was drinking every day.”
Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the NBC hit, told Sawyer he started taking prescription painkillers in 1997 after a jet ski accident while filming the movie Fools Rush In.
‘I had to wake up and realize I needed to be 55 [Vicodin pills] or I was going to be really sick. A bunch of doctors, fake migraines,” he said. “I guess the weirdest thing I did was on Sundays I would go to open days and go to the open day toilets to see what pills they had in there and steal them.
“I think they thought, ‘Well, there’s no way Chandler came in and robbed us.
The actor detailed the beginnings of his battles with drug addiction in the interview
The Williamstown, Massachusetts native added: ‘At 18 I was drinking every day’
Perry spoke with Sawyer about his battle with addiction in the interview
Sawyer asked Perry in the interview, “How will we know when you’re in trouble, when you’re not well?” to which Perry said, “If I say, ‘I’m just going to relax at home alone tonight; ‘ and the second part, the other thing is if I ever say, ‘I’m healed.’
Perry says a long battle with addiction saw him in therapy for 30 years; go to rehab 15 times; going to about 6,000 AA meetings and surviving 14 surgeries.
The actor told Sawyer that while he was entrenched in addiction during his years directing the show, he didn’t use substances while filming the NBC hit.
“I made a rule that I would never drink or take anything at work,” Perry said. “So I would never do that, but I would blindly show up with a hangover. Like shaking. I loved Chandler, I loved the show. And I knew, “Remember this, because it’s going to be the best time of your life.” And I knew I would never forgive myself if I screwed up.
Perry says a long battle with addiction saw him in therapy for 30 years; go to rehab 15 times; go to about 6,000 AA meetings and survive 14 surgeries
The actor told Sawyer that while he was entrenched in addiction during his years directing the show, he didn’t use substances while filming the NBC hit.
Perry is set to embark on a speaking tour this week called A Conversation with Matthew Perry.
“Join me on my book tour in November!” he said on Instagram on September 23. “Tickets on sale now…can’t wait to see you and share stories of FRIENDS, LOVERS AND THE BIG TERRIBLE THING.”
Perry has events scheduled for Nov. 2 at New York City Hall; Nov. 4 at Penn Medicine Princeton Health at the Hyatt Regency Princeton in Princeton, New Jersey; November 6 at the Warner Theater in Washington, DC; and November 10 at the Hot Docs Theater in Toronto.
Perry appeared on the Friends: The Reunion special in 2021 on HBO Max with co-stars Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and Jennifer Aniston.
The book is due out on November 1.
0