INSPERIA PRESS - Matthew Perry Book: A tale of Fame, Friends, Addiction and Recovery

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Matthew Langford Perry is an American-Canadian actor who was born on August 19, 1969 in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Even though on the surface Matthew seemed to have it all, behind the scenes, Matthew battled very serious issues, despite the fact that he was making up to $1 million per episode and had a group of supportive Friends and coworkers.

The actor's mental illness and his struggle with loneliness in the face of overwhelming fame contributed to his difficulty staying sober. Matthew, under the watchful eyes of the press, had to juggle his career and his illness after the television sitcom - Friends ended.

Why was Matthew's life so challenging even though he seemed to have it all?

This book includes information about Matthew Perry's friends, relationships, family, and general life as well as his journey to overcome addiction and improve his health.

Happy reading!

Matthew moved to the Canadian city of Ottawa with his mother before his first birthday and shortly after, his parents divorced. While many young people dream of becoming famous actors, Matthew's initial sights were set on the tennis court. As a teenager, he had worked his way up to being the city's number two junior player due to his dedication to the sport.

When he was 15 years old, his ambition changed. He wanted to pursue a career in film and thus relocated from Ottawa to Los Angeles to join his father John Bennett Perry, a successful actor who played the rugged sailor in Old Spice commercials. He enrolled in classes and began getting roles on television shows almost immediately afterward, but the opportunity of his life presented itself when he was cast as Chandler Bing on Friends.

The first episode of Friends, which was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, aired on NBC on September 22, 1994. It eventually became one of the most watched shows in television history.

Friends aired from September 24, 1994, all the way through May 24, 2004, for a total of ten seasons. From the time he was 24 until he was 34, Matthew gave his undivided attention to the show. The six main actors on Friends made $22,000 per episode in the first season, but that number ballooned to $1,000,000 in season nine and ten as the show's popularity skyrocketed.

Matthew was particularly praised for his acting. The character of Chandler Bing was very approachable and easy to relate with. He was a nice guy who never seemed to get any breaks with the ladies despite being attractive and possessing a hilariously sardonic sense of humor. While he was forthright and honest, he also had a generous spirit.

On set, Matthew was having the time of his life, achieving eternal fame, and earning more money than he could have ever dreamed of, but off set, things weren't nearly as rosy. Something horrendous was going to happen that would make Matthew's life plunge.

The terrible ordeal began in 1997, when Matthew was filming the movie Fools Rush In. Matthew had a Jet Ski accident and he was prescribed Vicodin, an opioid medication, to help with the pain. Matthew remembers that taking it made him feel better than he had ever felt in his entire life but then he couldn't stop. By the end of the first year and a half of treatment, he was taking fifty-five of those pills every day. Additionally, he was drinking too much alcohol.

Matthew entered rehab for the first time in 1997 because he was aware that his use of Vicodin and alcohol was a problem. In spite of the fact that he did everything in his power to keep a positive outlook, he eventually came to the conclusion that substance dependence is an especially cruel illness.

Years after the final episode of Friends aired, Matthew admitted that the middle seasons of the show were a haze for him, that he frequently felt disoriented, and that he had a tendency to act on autopilot. Matthew also said that he tended to act in a robotic manner. The actor's erratic weight changes made it clear to viewers of Friends in the year 2000 that he was going through a difficult time.

At age 30, after Matthew had already been to rehab once, he was hospitalised with pancreatitis. Pancreatitis is an illness brought on by the ingestion of alcoholic beverages and other drugs. Matthew lost 20 pounds and when he came back to the show everyone noticed the change.

Unfortunately, Matthew's illness flourished beneath the surface because of his immense fame, which only made him want to hide his problems. This would cause him to reach rock bottom by the year 2001. When Matthew's health was at its worst, he was juggling two projects at once: Friends and the movie Serving Sara.

This meant he had to commute between Los Angeles and Dallas. Not only was he extremely busy but he was also in a very dark place mentally, drinking vodka constantly and in huge quantities. This made him drowsy at work, and he recalls performing less than his best.

He said that whenever he had to work something happened between filming - his mind would be somewhere else and he just did everything he had to do on autopilot regardless of how his problems to remain sober affected him.

Matthew was sufficiently disciplined to refrain from consuming any substances on set. The issue was that he was extremely hungover or detoxing, which caused him to sweat profusely and tremble. Since he considered himself a fairly private person, having to try to rein in his drinking in front of 30 million people only exacerbated his negative emotions.

Unlike other Hollywood stars who dealt with similar issues, he was judged harshly because everyone knew he was struggling. Matthew was never the type to get wasted at parties; in fact, his drinking was usually done in isolation. He cut himself off from everyone and still felt lonely.

Matthew was encircled by people who cared about him deeply, but he was too preoccupied with his own issues for him to notice them. Nobody on the Friends set could pretend they didn't know that Matthew was sick, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

Lisa Kudrow (known on the show as Phoebe Buffay) recalls how painful it was to witness Matthew at his lowest. She stated that when Matthew was ill, it was not enjoyable, as they stood by helplessly and grieved for him.

Matt LeBlanc, who portrayed Joey Tribbiani, also attempted to assist him, but to no avail. According to him, there was no response; Matthews struggle was a personal one and he needed to resolve it from its roots.

Marta Kauffman, co-creator of Friends, remarked that it was terrifying to see a loved one in such agony. Matthew's illness prevented him from accepting the aid offered by his friends, but he eventually reached a point where something within him shifted.

As well as manhandling Vicodin and different sedatives like OxyContin, Matthew additionally took up smoking intensely. He smoked about sixty cigarettes a day.

While staying in a hotel in Dallas, he finally decided to give his parents a call and explain his predicament. Not everyone can take that initial, life-changing step when they've hit rock bottom, so this was a very courageous choice; however, in Matthew's eyes, it was nothing of the sort. Very little bravery was involved. It was a life-or-death situation, and he only survived because his parents helped him gain some perspective.