Matthew Perry says Friends costars confronted him about his sobriety when they could smell alcohol on him

Matthew Perry won the hearts of millions as Chandler Bing on Friends but behind the scenes he was battling a painful addiction he was determined to keep hidden.

The actor, who details his struggles in the new memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, sat down with ABC's Diane Sawyer and relieved some of his most painful memories while working on the iconic series.

Perry developed a dependence on drinking as early as 14 and admitted, "By the time I was 18, I was drinking everyday." Yet he was desperate to make it in Hollywood.

"God, you can do whatever you want to me. Just please, make me famous," Perry recalled pleading in "a dumb prayer."

Reisig & Taylor/NBCU The cast of 'Friends'

But when Perry earned a role on the series, then titled Friends Like Us, he realized his addictions would not be cured by success in Hollywood.

"That was a dark day for me. When it did not fix what was broken," he recalled.

But the 53-year-old insisted he was determined to keep his struggles from the cast and crew.

"I made a rule that I would never drink or take anything at work. But I would show up blindly hung over," he recounted. "I also knew, 'Remember this because it's going to be the best time of your life.' I knew I would never forgive myself if I messed this up."

Perry shared that he was so secretive, he couldn't tell those closest to him, including his family about his battle. A turning point came when members of the cast gathered in his dressing room and told him they could smell alcohol on him.

"I thought I was hiding it so well," he shared. "But I wasn't in a position to stop."

The actor remembered his costar Jennifer Aniston was the most vocal when it came to checking in on him, noting "She was the one who reached out the most."

Ron Davis/Getty Images Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry

But Perry's battle was only just beginning. A jet ski accident on the set of Fools Rush In led him to develop an addiction to painkillers.

Though by 2000, he was on the number one show and had the number one film with The Whole Nine Yards, his main focus was getting more drugs.

"At the time, I should have been the toast of the town," he said. "I was in a dark room meeting with nothing but drug dealers and completely alone for months."

Eventually, he was taking as many as 55 Vicodin pills a day. One shocking way he'd feed his addiction was going to open houses and pretend to be a potential buyer.

"The weirdest thing I did was on Sundays I would go to open houses and go to the bathrooms...in the open house and see what pills they had in there and steal them," Perry said. "And I think they thought, 'Well, there's no way that Chandler came in and stole from us.'"

Perry estimated that he has been through detox 65 times and went to rehab at least 15 times. It was a 2018 perforation of the bowel that led to one of his scariest moments. Eventually, his colon exploded and he was put on life support. He spent 14 days in a coma and was in the hospital for five months, noting he "escaped death really narrowly."

Perry said he was one of five people in the hospital that evening with the same health emergency and was the only one who survived.

"Why was I spared when these four people passed away? There has to be a reason that I'm here," he marveled.

That reason, he has come to realize, is helping others battling similar demons.

"When someone calls you for help and says, 'I'm in trouble,' what do you want to say to them first?" Sawyer asked.

"I say, 'Come over. Let's talk,'" Perry said. "And follow up, and help the person, and I see the light come on in their eyes. I have the answer because of stumbling so much. I could help them."

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