Matthew Perry looks dishevelled in rare appearance
Matthew Perry looks dishevelled in rare appearance months after bravely revealing how his nightmare addiction battle nearly killed him
- If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse in the US, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP
- If you are in the UK, call FRANK 24 hours a day, seven days a week 0300 123 6600
Matthew Perry sported an unkempt appearance as he focused on his home renovation in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The actor, 53, looked a little tired as he returned to his new hideaway in the Hidden Hills, after grabbing a refreshing chilled drink from Starbucks.
Matthew has been winding down after wrapping up his book tour for his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.
In it, the Friends star laid bare the height of his terrible drug and alcohol addiction battle which nearly cost him his life.
The star was given just a two per cent chance of survival after an opioid addiction caused his colon to burst when he was aged 49, leaving him in a coma for two weeks and spending months in hospital – a fact which his legions of fans were unaware of.
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
Weary: Matthew Perry sported an unkempt appearance as he focused on his home renovation in Los Angeles on Wednesday
On Wednesday, Matthew, who sported a casual blue jumper, navy T-shirt and jeans, for the outing emerged from his car with his drink in hand after nipping out.
In the midst of the house renovations, the actor’s hair was a little unruly and he sported some facial hair.
Matthew oversaw the delivery of a custom-made bed and furniture for his property.
It was a rare appearance for the actor, who has been staying low-key of late after his bombshell book tour.
Now sober, the beloved actor, best known for playing hapless Chandler Bing, bravely detailed his decades-long battle to rid himself of the disease of addiction.
After suffering from a gastrointestinal perforation from opioid addiction, Matthew said he had to use a colostomy bag for nine months, has now had 14 surgeries on his stomach in total and been to rehab 15 times in a bid to get clean.
When he was first admitted to the hospital, he said: ‘the doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live. I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that’s called a Hail Mary. No one survives that.’
He told PEOPLE: ‘I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again.
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
Stepping out: The actor, 53, looked a little tired as he returned to his new hideaway in the Hidden Hills, after grabbing a chilled drink from Starbucks
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
Low-key: Matthew has been winding down after wrapping up his book tour for his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing
‘I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober — and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction — to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people.’
Talking about his starring role on Friends at aged 24, his alcohol addiction was starting to surface.
He said he could handle it but he was ‘entrenched in a lot of trouble’ by the time he was 34.
Matthew said there were years during that time in which he was sober and in fact, he was sober throughout the whole of season nine, the year he got nominated for Best Actor.
At one point during his Friends career, he admits he was taking 55 Vicodin a day and was down to 128 pounds but yet he ‘didn’t know how to stop.’
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
Keeping busy: Matthew, who sported a casual blue jumper, navy T-shirt and jeans, for the outing emerged from his car with his drink in hand after nipping out
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
Friends: It was a rare appearance for the actor, who has been staying low-key of late after his bombshell book tour
He said the disease has got worse and worse and progressive as he’s got older and noted his Friends cast mates ‘were understanding, and they were patient.’
‘You can track the trajectory for my addiction if you gauge my weight from season to season,’ he wrote in the book.
‘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.’
In May 2000, his battle with alcohol and drug use had become so severe that he was admitted to the hospital with pancreatitis, a potentially deadly condition that develops from heavy drinking.
And while he insisted that he ‘never drank on set,’ he told the Times that he would often come to work ‘extremely’ hungover.
‘It’s so horrible to feel that way and have to work and be funny on top of that,’ the actor said, adding that he would sometimes find himself sweating and shaking on the Friends set.
‘I didn’t know how to stop,’ he also admitted to People. ‘If the police came over to my house and said, “If you drink tonight, we’re going to take you to jail,” I’d start packing.’
While he was working on the movie Serving Sara in 2001, things became so bad that Perry realized he couldn’t go on like that any longer, and he decided to take a break from filming to go back to rehab.
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
His story: In his memoir, the Friends star laid bare the height of his terrible drug and alcohol addiction battle which nearly cost him his life
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
Troubled: He said in episodes where he looked bigger in size, he was drinking a lot of alcohol, while in parts he was skinnier, he was using pills. He is seen left in 2002 and right in 1998
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
Addiction: Perry added his most severe drug use occurred when he grew a beard and mustache, explaining, ‘When I had a goatee, it was lots of pills.’ He is pictured in 1996
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
Battle: The comedian admitted during the height of his career, he was taking 55 pain killers per day and dropped down to only 128 pounds. He is pictured in the show
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
Under the radar: He said in 2016 – left – I don’t remember three years of [the show],’ he said. ‘Somewhere between Seasons 3 and 6 … I was a little out of it.’
He stepped out of the spotlight for more than two months, before he returned to finish filming Serving Sara.
While it seemed to the public that Perry’s battles with addiction ended after that, he secretly almost lost his life a few years ago, at age 49, when his colon burst due to opioid overuse.
He spent two weeks in a coma and five months in the hospital, and had to use a colostomy bag for nine months.
His stomach is covered in scars from his 14 surgeries and said they serve as a reminder to stay sober.
Matthew said his therapist has told him that he may have to have a colostomy bag for the rest of his life if he takes drugs again, which helps him to avoid relapsing.
![](https://london24news.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/LOGO2.png)
On the mend: Pictured a year after he had abdominal surgery to repair a gastrointestinal perforation which saw him nearly lose his life and having to use a colostomy bag for 9 months