Friends star Matthew Perry has revealed he used to steal prescription pills from open houses at the height of his addiction.
The actor, who played the sarcastic Chandler Bing on the hit NBC sitcom, has spoken previously about his struggles with addiction, and discusses it in depth in a forthoming memoir.
Speaking to ABC’s Diane Sawyer in an interview on Friday (28 October), Perry said: “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.
“And I think they thought, ‘Well, there’s no way that Chandler came in and stole from us.’”
In his memoir, titled Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry claimed that fans of Friends are able to tell whether he was drinking or using drugs at any point by observing his body weight and facial hair in any given episode.
“You can track the trajectory for my addiction if you gauge my weight from season to season,” he wrote.
“When I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills; when I have a goatee, it’s a lot of pills.”
The memoir also contains disparaging remarks aimed at the actor Keanu Reeves. After the comments were shared ahead of the book’s release, Perry apologised for the jibes.
In the book, Perry also revealed that his heart stopped beating for five minutes after he suffered a medical emergency in rehab a few years ago.
Perry had been set to star in Adam McKay’s hit Netflix satire Don’t Look Up when he was forced to exit over his health.
If you or someone you know is suffering from drug addiction, you can seek confidential help and support 24-7 from Frank, by calling 0300 123 6600, texting 82111, sending an email or visiting their website here.
In the US, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP.
