Matthew Perry passed away: this was his long fight against drugs

There is a scene in the series “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” (2005-2006) where television producer Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) is approached by his assistant Suzanne (Merrit Weaver). She asks him if she can tell him something, but on the condition that he doesn’t fire her. A little confused, curious even, Matt accepts; she shoots back: “Are you on drugs?”

What follows is the response of someone who continues to use drugs but does not want to admit that they have a problem. Suzanne, with the calm of someone who has already experienced the situation, tells him about her experience with her own mother, another of her addicts. Matthew Perry’s performance on the scene is in how he delivers his lines, but also in his disposition, in the micro expressions that go from discomfort to lightness and then to reflection. The same mannerisms that made him famous in “Friends” and that are usually ignored when thinking about Chandler Bing, the man made of 99% sarcasm.

“It was on “Friends” where Jennifer Aniston confronted Matthew Perry about her addictions”

It only remains to imagine what was going through his mind. Matthew Perry in that scene, written by Aaron Sorkin (who battled his own addictions). Years before, his addiction to Vicodin and alcohol kept him at the limit of his health when he was filming “Friends”, taking him to rehabilitation clinics, to weight fluctuations, to developing pancreatitis; Health problems would not remain only in the past, they would be a constant in the following two decades.

“Friends” fans leave flowers at the building where, in fiction, the character’s apartment was located.

He will always be remembered for playing Chandler Bing. Hours after his death was confirmed, the grief has led his fans to share memes, scenes and other digital tributes. In one of them he does not appear in the photo, but Matt LeBlanc does, who played Joe Tribbiani, who looks at his roommate’s empty seat. It was on “Friends” where Jennifer Aniston confronted Matthew Perry about her addictions and he, surprised, asked her how he realized if he always tried to go to work sober. The smell gave him away, she told him, and only then, with ‘Rachel’s’ wake-up call, did he understand the magnitude of his actions.

At the close of this article, the surviving protagonists of the series have not yet commented on the tragedy. On the other hand, the official account of the series did issue a statement: “We are devastated to learn of the passing of Matthew Perry. It was a true gift for all of us. Our heart goes out to his family, beloved series and all his fans.”. The cause of death is also unclear, only that he was found dead in a hot tub. In one of those coincidences that seem straight out of Hollywood, the actor’s latest post on his Instagram account shows him precisely in one of those devices.

His addiction to Vicodin and alcohol kept him at the limit of his health when it was time to film “Friends”, taking him to rehabilitation clinics, to weight fluctuations, to developing pancreatitis; Health problems would not remain only in the past, they would be a constant in the next two decades.

Perry continued acting after “Friends” but, like most of his colleagues, nothing he did next would be as big as the 10 seasons he spent between the Central Perk cafeteria and the apartments. Meanwhile, he continued to fight his addictions, entering and leaving rehabilitation centers and making decisions that changed his life., but which he does not remember having taken. In his autobiography, published in 2022 and with which he sought to share his experience to help whoever needs it, he says that he proposed to an ex-girlfriend while completely drugged, but that he later did not remember to do it. A decision that was born from his fear of abandonment.

It is in this same book where he reveals other dark passages of his use of his life, such as the time when, when he bit into a piece of toast with peanut butter, all his upper teeth fell out (dental problems are common among those who abuse them. opiates). It wouldn’t be the worst scare he went through, since his addictions also led him to have multiple gastrointestinal surgeries; He also had a colon burst in 2019, so he was in a coma for two weeks and needed to wear a colostomy bag.

In 2021, the actor saw all his “Friends” colleagues again at a meeting organized by the streaming platform HBO Max. He almost didn’t attend the event, as a dental appointment left him with an oral problem. But it was, he was sparing, but that didn’t stop him from hugging, crying for a while and remembering the old times. “(‘Friends’) changed my life in all its aspects. I entered the series when I was a 24-year-old man; It ended when he was 34. It shaped my life. “It was the greatest moment of my life,” he told People. He will never be forgotten.