After Matthew Perry's tragic death, we take a look back at the reason why the beloved 'Chandler Bing' actor never chose to watch the TV series that otherwise made him rich and famous.
The reason wasn't just a matter of personal preference but a painful reminder of his struggles with addiction.
Perry's life was a rollercoaster of ups and downs, as he openly discussed in his 2022 memoir "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing."
His struggles with addiction were so severe that he would "show up to set, pass out in my chair, wake up to do a scene, stumble to set, then just basically scream into a camera for two minutes," according to an interview with Today in november last year.
The Real Reason He Avoided 'Friends'
The actor's battle with addiction was the primary reason he avoided watching reruns of "Friends."
In a candid interview, Perry explained,
"I was taking 55 Vicodin in a day. I weighed 128 pounds. I was on 'Friends' getting watched by 30 million people — that's why I can't watch the show because I was, like, brutally thin." He further elaborated that he could trace his addiction through the seasons, stating, "I could tell season-by-season how I looked."
The Cost of Sobriety
Perry eventually achieved sobriety but not without significant financial and emotional investment.
In a 2022 interview with The New York Times, he revealed that he had spent around $9 million in his quest for sobriety and had been drug and alcohol-free for 18 months at that time.
A Change of Heart?
Despite his past, Perry indicated that his perspective on watching "Friends" might be changing. He noted the show's enduring appeal and said, "I think I'm going to start to watch it because it really has been an incredible thing to watch it touch the hearts of different generations."
May his soul rest in peace.
