Ents & Arts News: Matthew Perry’s Memoir Unveils Untold Stories of Friends, Relationships, and Addiction Struggles

A year ago, Matthew Perry released his memoir “Friends, Lovers And The Big Terrible Thing,” which chronicled his journey to fame, his ten years on the hit TV show Friends, and his struggles with alcohol and drug addiction. After his death at the age of 54, several of his friends and co-stars have recommended reading the book. Page Brewster, who played Kathy, Chandler’s love interest on Friends, wrote in her tribute that it was Perry’s legacy to help. Hank Azaria, who portrayed David, Phoebe’s boyfriend on Friends, described the book as devastating, both physically and emotionally, and admitted he had a difficult time reading it. Here are nine quotes from the book, published in 2022 by Headline Publishing Group, that provide more insight into Perry’s life.

“I have spent over $7 million trying to get sober. I’ve been to 6,000 AA meetings… I’ve been to rehab fifteen times.”

Reflecting on his ongoing battle with addiction, Perry talks about his father’s ability to quit drinking after one drunken night when he “fell in the bushes or something.” Perry, on the other hand, shares how much time and money he spent trying to stay sober.

“If I didn’t have alcohol to soothe my nerves and help me have fun, I would have leaped off a tall building sometime in my 20s.”

Perry, in the book, questions whether he regrets auditioning for Friends and drinking heavily during his time on the show. In response, he says no. He talks about his anxiety about not being funny enough to elicit laughter from the live TV audience and how failing to make people laugh would cause him significant distress.

“I married Monica and got driven back to the treatment center.”

The book reveals that Perry was residing in a treatment center in Malibu when the episode featuring Chandler and Monica’s wedding was filmed in the early 2000s. He was allowed to leave the center with his “sober technician” to shoot the two-part episode before returning to the facility. Perry also writes about Jennifer Aniston being mad at him when he arrived on set, having previously smelled alcohol on him during filming. However, after explaining his situation, the two embraced.

“My weight varied between 128 pounds and 225 pounds during the years of Friends.”

Perry’s weight fluctuated significantly between 1994 and 2004 while Friends was on air. He recounts wearing clothes that were too big for him during one of the Chandler-Monica engagement episodes. He explains that he lost around 50 pounds between filming the season six finale and season seven premiere but still wore the same clothes.

“Instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts.”

Perry briefly dated Julia Roberts in 1995 during the early years of Friends. He shares that one of the show’s creators asked him to ask Roberts if she would make a cameo on the show. They flirted in real life but ultimately ended things because Perry didn’t believe he could be enough for her. He mentions watching Roberts win an Oscar while he was in rehab.

“We can’t be friends!” – to Jennifer Aniston

In his memoir, Perry reveals that he tried to ask Jennifer Aniston out when they first met, three years before they were cast as Chandler and Rachel on Friends. Aniston declined his invitation, suggesting they be friends instead. Perry humorously responded, “We can’t be friends!”

“I’d just been punched in the face by Cameron Diaz.”

Perry recalls attending a dinner party with Cameron Diaz in 2007. Although it was supposed to be a date, Perry claims that Diaz made it clear she didn’t like him. During a game of Pictionary, Diaz attempted to playfully punch Perry on the shoulder but missed and hit him in the face instead.

“I had terrible luck with women, and I was not comfortable in any silence at all.”

Perry recounts a lunch with Friends co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, where he discussed his struggles with dating and the need to break every silence with a joke. This characteristic became integrated into Chandler Bing’s character and his difficulties with women.

In their tribute to Perry, Kauffman, Crane, and director Kevin Bright highlight the similarities between Perry and his character. They wrote that there was no one else who could embody the role of Chandler Bing as perfectly as Perry did.

“I could not handle that you got rich and famous doing a role that I turned down” – Craig Bierko about Perry.

Perry reveals in his memoir that actor Craig Bierko was initially chosen by the Friends writers to play Chandler Bing but turned down the role to star in another pilot called Friends Like Us. Perry encouraged Bierko to pursue the other show. However, when Perry was ultimately chosen for the role and Friends became a huge success, Friends Like Us never made it past the pilot episode. Perry claims that Bierko refused to speak to him for years, but they eventually reconciled.



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