Chandler Bing's Off-Screen Struggles: Matthew Perry and Alcohol

As the witty and beloved Chandler Bing on the sitcom Friends, Matthew Perry brought laughter and joy to tens of millions of people around the world. But behind the scenes, he was harboring a deep secret. “From an outsider’s perspective, it would seem like I had it all,” he once said during an interview. “It was actually a very lonely time for me, because I was suffering from alcoholism.” 

Perry characterized himself as a ready-made, “just-add-water addict” — a self-proclaimed “alcoholic from the age of 14” who later got hooked on painkillers after a jet ski accident. But how exactly did his addiction affect him, and what did he do about it? 

In this post, we’ll explore Matthew Perry and his drinking habits, his sobriety journey, and the legacy he left behind in the wake of his untimely death. Let’s dive in!

When Did Matthew Perry Start Drinking Alcohol and Taking Drugs?

People turn to alcohol for all sorts of reasons. Some might use it to ease anxiety before social situations. Others might use it to relax or unwind after a long day at work. Another group might drink to ease emotional, mental, or even physical pain.

For Matthew Perry, his drinking seems to have stemmed from a troubled childhood. According to his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry started drinking at the age of 14 to help him cope with the separation of his parents. By the time he was 18, he was drinking every day.

However, it wasn’t until he was first cast on the show of Friends at the age of 24 that his alcohol addiction really started to surface. His struggles were further complicated when he was prescribed Vicodin after a jet ski accident in 1997. “It wasn’t my intention to have a problem with it,” he said in 2002. “ But from the start, I liked how it made me feel and I wanted to get more.”

While his alter ego Chandler may have been cracking jokes by day, outside of work things started spiraling out of control. In fact, at one point, Perry shares in his book, he was taking 55 Vicodin a day, and had to use various ploys to get more pills. 

“It was a full-time job: making calls, seeing doctors, faking migraines, finding crooked nurses who would give me what I needed,” he wrote in his memoir. In an alarming act of desperation, he would even go to open houses on Sundays and search the medicine cabinets of different homes for any pills he could find. At this time, he was also drinking “probably a quart of vodka a day.” As he told People magazine in 2002, “I was out of control and very unhealthy.” 

When Did Matthew Perry First Go to Rehab?

As Perry’s addiction progressed, his body underwent visible changes — as is often the case with those struggling with alcohol or substance misuse. In fact, if you’ve ever wondered what seasons of Friends Perry was on alcohol, the answer can be found by looking at his physique. 

“When I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills. When I have a goatee, it’s lots of pills,” he wrote in his memoir. Over the course of Friends, from 1994 to 2004, his weight fluctuated between 128 pounds and 225 pounds as a result of alcohol and addiction. 

Perry first went to rehab in 1997, spending 28 days at a Hazelden Betty Ford facility in Minnesota. However, he didn’t stay sober for long. In May 2000, he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for pancreatitis, a potentially deadly inflammation of the pancreas from alcohol misuse. 

Sadly, this didn’t serve as the wake up call that one might hope it would — a testament to just how powerful a grip alcohol and substance misuse can have on someone. Perhaps a sign of just how bad things had become, Perry crashed his Porsche into a house the day he was released from the hospital. While no alcohol or drugs were found in his system that day, it was further proof of just how out of control his life had become. 

“It was terrifying,” said Friends executive producer Marta Kauffman to People magazine, “watching someone you care about in so much pain.” His Friends co-stars tried to help, but to no avail. The truth is that you can try to help a friend struggling with alcohol misuse, but can’t force them to quit drinking; they have to want it for themselves. 

As Perry told People magazine, “I wasn’t ready to hear it. You can’t tell anyone to get sober. It has to come from you.”

Matthew Perry’s “Moment of Clarity”

While Perry said that he would never drink on set, the effects of his addiction still showed. He described being extremely hungover, drunk, or high and admitted that he didn’t remember a lot of the filming of Friends — specifically seasons three through six. 

In his memoir, Perry recalls a time when Jennifer Aniston confronted him. “‘We can smell it,’ she said, in a kind of weird but loving way, and the plural ‘we’ hit me like a sledgehammer,” he recounted. 

But on February 23, 2001, something happened: he had what he describes as a “moment of clarity” that prompted him to confront his problems head-on. “I can’t describe it, because bigger things were taking place that I can’t put into words,” he said. At the time, Perry was in Dallas filming the movie Serving Sara, and called his parents from his hotel room, pleading for help.

“I didn’t get sober because I felt like it,” he later told The New York Times. “I got sober because I was worried I was going to die the next day.” Perry entered rehab for the third time in 2001, spending two and half months getting sober. When “The One with Monica and Chandler’s Wedding” in season seven aired in May 2001, Perry was still living in rehab. In fact, he was driven by the center to and from set each day. 

“I married Monica and got driven back to the treatment center — at the height of my highest point in Friends, the highest point in my career, the iconic moment on the iconic show — in a pickup truck helmed by a sober technician," he wrote in his memoir.

Perry was also in rehab between seasons eight and nine. Interestingly, season nine was the only season that he was fully sober for — and was the only time he was nominated for an Emmy for the show. 

Matthew Perry’s Lifelong Sobriety Journey 

Sadly, Perry would continue to struggle with alcohol and drug misuse for the rest of his life. While filming the Friends finale in 2004, Perry was taking buprenorphine — a detox med designed to help addicts withdrawal from harder opioids. 

In his memoir, he contrasts the sobbing of his Friends co-stars once the show had wrapped with his own feelings of numbness. “Tears sprang from almost everyone’s eyes like so many geysers,” he wrote. “But I felt nothing. I couldn’t tell if that was because of the opioid buprenorphine I was taking, or if I was just generally dead inside.”

In 2011, he went back into rehab as part of his continuing recovery. “I’m making plans to go away for a month to focus on my sobriety and to continue my life in recovery,” he said in a statement. 

But that wouldn’t be the last time. By his count, Perry attended 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, made 15 trips to rehab, went through detox 65 times, had 14 stomach surgeries as a result of his substance use, and “probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober,” he told The New York Times.

In July 2019, Perry almost died at 49 years old when his colon exploded due to opiate overuse and he was put into a medically induced coma for two weeks. His family was told he had a 2% chance of survival. He spent five months in the hospital and lived with a colostomy bag for nine months. And in January 2022, he had another stomach surgery that left him with a six-inch incision with metal staples. “That’s a lot of reminders to stay sober,” he wrote, calling attention to the scars on his stomach. “All I have to do is look down.”

When Perry spoke with The New York Times in October 2022 ahead of the release of his memoir, he said he had been drug- and alcohol-free for 18 months, which meant he was newly sober by the time the Friends reunion aired in May 2021. 

Matthew Perry’s Commitment to Helping Others Struggling With Addiction

Even amid his struggle, Perry became committed to helping others overcome their alcohol and substance misuse. In 2013, he opened up the 5,500-square-foot Perry House in Malibu as a sober living facility for men. 

“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life and a lot of wonderful accolades,” he told The Hollywood Reporter of his sobriety journey in 2015. "The best thing about me is that if an alcoholic comes up to me and says, ‘Will you help me stop drinking?’ I will say, ‘Yes. I know how to do that.'"

Indeed, that was how Perry wanted to be remembered: as someone who helped others fight their addiction. In a podcast with Tom Power in 2022, Perry said, “I would like to be remembered as somebody who lived well, loved well, was a seeker. And his paramount thing is that he wants to help people. That's what I want.”

He added, “When I die, I don't want Friends to be the first thing that's mentioned. I want that to be the first thing that's mentioned. And I'm gonna live the rest of my life proving that."

Sadly, Perry passed away on October 28, 2023 at age 54 at his home in Los Angeles, where he was found dead in his jacuzzi. While his death is still being investigated, some have speculated a possible relapse. However, that hasn’t been proven. 

To honor his legacy, a foundation has been set up to help those struggling with alcohol and substance addiction. A statement from the Matthew Perry Foundation said, "In the spirit of Matthew Perry's enduring commitment to helping others struggling with the disease of addiction, we embark on a journey to honor his legacy by establishing the Matthew Perry Foundation, guided by his own words and experiences, and driven by his passion for making a difference in as many lives as possible."

Tips for Helping Those Struggling With Alcohol Misuse

Helping those struggling with alcohol and drug misuse can be incredibly challenging. As Perry himself admitted, the desire to get sober has to come from within. But, as he also wrote in his memoir, “Addiction is far too powerful for anyone to defeat alone. But together, one day at a time, we can beat it down.” 

With that in mind, and in honor of Matthew Perry, here are some tips for helping a loved one struggling with alcohol misuse: 

1. Encourage them to make a doctor’s appointment. Our loved one’s primary care doctor or a general practitioner can evaluate their drinking patterns, assess their overall health and any co-occurring disorders, and provide treatment referrals. If appropriate, they may even prescribe medication approved to treat alcohol dependence. Depending on the severity of your loved one’s condition, a doctor might be necessary to help manage withdrawal symptoms during detox.
2. Attend a 12-step program or other support group. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is one of the most common treatment options for alcohol misuse. Support groups like these are beneficial because they’ll allow your loved one to spend time with others facing similar problems. They also provide advice on how to stay sober and help reduce any sense of isolation they might be experiencing. Studies show that the social connection provided by these groups can help people build confidence in their own ability to avoid alcohol in social situations and support their sobriety.
3. Discuss behavioral treatments. Individual, group, and/or family therapy can help your loved one identify the root cause of their alcohol misuse, repair damaged relationships, develop skills to stop or reduce their drinking, and learn how to deal with the drinking triggers that might cause them to relapse. CBT is a particularly effective tool, and is one of the many types of therapy for alcohol misuse. 
4. Research residential treatment or “rehab” facilities. Both inpatient and outpatient treatment centers provide intensive treatment for alcohol misuse. Choosing which one largely depends on the severity of your loved one’s condition. Inpatient facilities are more intensive, requiring people to stay at a special facility for 30 to 90 days to receive treatment such as detox, therapy, and medication. During outpatient treatment, your loved one would attend set rehab appointments during the week but still reside at home. 

Sometimes, a combination of the above can be most effective. While our loved one has to want to get sober, we can encourage them to get the help they need and support them on their path to recovery. 

If you or a loved one is struggling with alcohol misuse, consider trying Reframe. Although it isn’t a treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD), our neuroscience-backed app has helped millions of people cut back on drinking gradually.