Matthew Perry Says Friends Cast Rallied Around Him at Height of His Addiction: 'They Were Patient'
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When Matthew Perry was first cast as Chandler Bing on Friends, he was 24 years old and "just a guy desperate for fame, thinking that fame would fix everything," he tells PEOPLE in this week's cover story. "I was just 'on' all the time."
But now, in a candid interview to discuss his new memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry, 53, reflects on his journey — and the harrowing addiction he tried to keep secret. "I thought being funny all the time was how I would get through," he says. "I thought [Friends] was going to fix everything. It didn't."
Opening up about his cast mates and the friends who were pivotal in his journey, Perry reveals he even had a crush on Jennifer Aniston that began when they first met — two years before the show started.
Brian Bowen Smith Matthew Perry
"There was such severe indifference from her that I ended it," he says playfully. "I think everybody probably figured it out. I never said anything. And I hid it. But then she married Brad Pitt, and I was like, 'I don't think I have a chance here.'"
Brian Bowen Smith
Around that time, Perry's addiction to alcohol was also solidifying. "I thought I could handle it kind of," he says. "But by the time I was 34, I was really entrenched in a lot of trouble."
At one terrifying point, the actor was taking 55 Vicodin a day and weighed 128 pounds. "I didn't know how to stop," he says. "Because the disease and the addiction is progressive. So it gets worse and worse as you grow older."
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
The actor doesn't hesitate to credit his Friends castmates for rallying around him. "They were understanding, and they were patient," he says. "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."
RELATED: Matthew Perry Looks Forward to Being a Husband and Father: 'I'm Not Afraid of Love Anymore'
Terence Patrick/HBO Max Friends reunion special
Despite all the fame and fortune, Perry insists he would give it all up to not have battled addiction.
"The fact that I would trade it all to not have this disease is true. But I don't belittle how fun the experience has been on Friends," he says. "And the money was amazing. Just the creative experience of being on Friends probably saved my life."
He adds, "When you're making a million dollars a week, you can't drink the 37th drink. You have to go home and go to sleep…. That was the greatest job in the world."
The friendships he made with the cast have proven to be life-long, which was evident when they came together for the 2021 HBO Max reunion show.
"It's a group that really is close and tight-knit," Perry says, adding, "and loves each other."
For more on Matthew Perry, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing hits bookshelves Nov. 1.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
