With the release of his new memoir Friends, lovers and the big terrible thing, Matthew Perry candid about his past struggles with addiction and the long road to recovery. And the actor, 53, says the road to sobriety has been an expensive one.
“I probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober,” Perry told The New York Times in an interview ahead of the memoir’s release on Nov. 1, per People.
The friends star, best known for his role as Chandler Bing in the iconic NBC sitcom, has only recently come forward about his decades-long battle with alcohol and opiate addiction.
Perry, who also shared that he recently celebrated an 18-month sobriety milestone, says maintaining his sobriety is the necessary starting point for everything in life.
“Because if you’re not sober, you lose everything you put in front of it, so my sobriety is right up there. I’m an extremely grateful man. I’m grateful to be alive, that’s for sure. And that gives me the opportunity to anything to do,” he said.
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Though Perry tried to curb his addiction, even taking 55 Vicodin a day and dropping to just 128 pounds, it came to a terrifying climax when the actor’s colon burst from years of drug abuse.
“The doctors told my family I had a 2 percent chance of being alive. I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that’s called a Hail Mary. Nobody will survive that,” Perry said of the horrific ordeal, which ultimately resulted in a five-month hospitalization.
“Five people were put on an ECMO machine that night and the other four died and I survived. So the big question is why? Why was I the one? There must be a reason,” he added.
The star found reason in sobriety and used the health anxiety as a catalyst to quit drugs and alcohol for good. Along with supportive friends, family and former co-stars, Perry began the path to recovery. While it wasn’t easy, he said he found the motivation in an advice from his therapist that was nearly worth the $9 million price tag alone.
“My therapist said, ‘The next time you think about taking OxyContin, remember to have an ostomy bag for the rest of your life,'” he said. The actor had temporarily placed a colostomy bag while he was in the hospital, and the thought of going through that again was enough to curb his cravings.
“And a little window opened up, and I crawled through it, and I don’t want OxyContin anymore.”
Friends, lovers and the big terrible thing will be available from November 1st wherever books are sold.