Matthew Perry on Dating Julia Roberts in the '90s: It 'Had Been Too Much for Me'

Getty Images / Stringer Matthew Perry and Julia Roberts

Matthew Perry is sharing more secrets.

The Friends alum, 53, reveals in his upcoming memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, that he couldn't believe he found himself dating Julia Roberts while shooting Friends.

In an excerpt published by The Times of London, Perry told the story of Roberts signing up to guest star on the hit sitcom, but only if she would be part of his storyline. Eventually, the pair started dating.

Perry says that he went to New Mexico to ring in 1996 with her and met her family. "I did let her in, both figuratively and literally, and a relationship began," the actor wrote, according to the publication. "We would already be a couple by the time we started filming the Friends Super Bowl episode."

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The two dated for a few months before Perry called it quits, much to Roberts' surprise.

"Two months later, I was single," Perry writes. "Dating Julia Roberts had been too much for me. I had been constantly certain that she was going to break up with me. Why would she not? I was not enough; I could never be enough; I was broken, bent, unloveable."

nbc Matthew Perry and Julia Roberts

He continued: "So instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts. She might have considered herself slumming it with a TV guy, and TV guy was now breaking up with her. I can't begin to describe the look of confusion on her face."

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Perry previously opened up to PEOPLE about the new book and his decades-spanning journey to getting off drugs and alcohol, explaining that "everything starts with sobriety."

"Because if you don't have sobriety, you're going to lose everything that you put in front of it, so my sobriety is right up there," Perry said earlier this month. "I'm an extremely grateful guy. I'm grateful to be alive, that's for sure. And that gives me the possibility to do anything."

RELATED VIDEO: Matthew Perry Opens Up About His Addiction Journey with a New Memoir: 'I'm Grateful to Be Alive'

Perry revealed that he had a near-death experience after his colon burst, resulting in a five-month hospitalization and a colostomy bag. The ordeal also served as a catalyst for him to finally get sober.

"My therapist said, 'The next time you think about taking OxyContin, just think about having a colostomy bag for the rest of your life,' " he explained. "And a little window opened, and I crawled through it, and I no longer want OxyContin."

The Golden Globe nominee also credited his Friends costars — Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc — for being there for him during his lowest points. He said he was taking 55 Vicodin a day and weighed 128 pounds at one point during the beloved NBC sitcom's 10-season run from 1994 to 2004, during which he starred as fan-favorite Chandler Bing.

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"They were understanding, and they were patient," Perry said. "It's like penguins. In nature, when one is sick or very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up and walk around until that penguin can walk on its own. And that's kind of what the cast did for me."

Perry also said in a recent interview with The New York Times that he has spent a fortune on drug and alcohol treatment.

"I've probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober," Perry said. The actor also revealed that he recently celebrated 18 months of sobriety, which would indicate he was newly sober for the popular Friends reunion special, which aired in May 2021.

Perry's memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing is available Nov. 1.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.