Matthew Perry Got Emotional While Talking About Addiction & Says He 'Should Be Dead' (VIDEO)

Matthew Perry recently chatted with Diane Sawyer about his upcoming memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing and just how bad his substance abuse was while he was filming Friends.

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"Secrets kill you. Secrets kill people like me," the Canadian celeb told Sawyer.

When she noted that the actor at one time had the number one movie and number one TV show, Perry said that while he should have been "the toast of the town," he was actually in a very different place.

"I was in a dark room, meeting with nothing but drug dealers and completely alone," he shared.

Sawyer said that he started his book with a "thunderclap."

"Hi, my name is Matthew although you may know me by another name, my friends call me Mattie and I should be dead," she read out loud, which the actor confirmed is true.

"You were on methadone, Xanax, full quart of vodka a day," Sawyer listed.

"55 Vicodin a day," Perry confirmed.

When Sawyer reiterated Perry's point that there were "six friends, one of them was sick," the actor got emotional.

As well, Sawyer brought up a moment when castmate Jennifer Aniston said to him, "We know you're drinking."

"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."

As for why he's now sharing his personal struggles with addiction so candidly, Perry had a sweet response.

"It was important to me to do something that would help people," he explained.

If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol or substance use, help is available across the provinces and territories. If you need immediate assistance, please call 911 or go to your nearest hospital.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.