Matthew Perry Got Real About The Amount Of Drugs He Was Taking While Filming 'Friends'

Matthew Perry's new book is out soon and he got candid about some of the darker moments he faced while struggling with addiction.

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On October 19, the Friends actor chatted with People ahead of the release of his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.

He told the publication that while he was on Friends at one point he was taking 55 Vicodin a day and his struggles with alcohol started to ramp up.

"I didn't know how to stop. If the police came over to my house and said, 'If you drink tonight, we're going to take you to jail,' I'd start packing," he shared. "I couldn't stop because the disease and the addiction is progressive. So it gets worse and worse as you grow older."

He said that by the time he was 34, he was in "a lot of trouble."

"But there were years that I was sober during that time. Season 9 was the year that I was sober the whole way through. And guess which season I got nominated for best actor? I was like, 'That should tell me something.'"

As for the rest of the cast members, he said they supported him the way penguins do.

"Penguins, in nature, when one is sick, or when one is very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up," Perry explained. "They walk around it until that penguin can walk on its own. That's kind of what the cast did for me."

He also said that when people read the book, they'll be surprised at just how close he came to dying.

"I say in the book that if I did die, it would shock people, but it wouldn't surprise anybody," he shared. "And that's a very scary thing to be living with. So my hope is that people will relate to it, and know that this disease attacks everybody. It doesn't matter if you're successful or not successful, the disease doesn't care."

Since getting sober, the actor says he's now pretty healthy.

"I'm an extremely grateful guy. I'm grateful to be alive, that's for sure," he said. And that gives me the possibility to do anything."

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.

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