The upcoming memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry appears to be chock full of insights.
The actor and Friends star admits in the book that he spent $9 million on treatment for his substance addiction problems and that, at one time, he was taking 55 Vicodin per day while filming the popular TV program.
In a recent passage from his book, Matthew also discusses why he had to leave the set of the Oscar-nominated movie Don't Look Up while it was being filmed.
Matthew reveals that while he was residing at a rehab facility in Switzerland, he misled his physicians by claiming that he need medicine to address acute stomach discomfort.
In actuality, he writes, "I was OK." "I still felt like I was doing sit-ups all the time, so it was quite unpleasant, but there was no pain," the patient said.
He received a prescription for hydrocodone and a dose of propofol before to surgery to ease the pain, only to awaken in a different hospital.
"The propofol, it seems, had halted my heart. it takes five minutes. Nothing had been thumping, but it wasn't a heart attack since I didn't become unconscious."
A "beefy Swiss guy" who "really didn't want the guy from Friends dying on his table" saved Matthew's life, according to reports, by performing CPR for the whole five minutes that Matthew's heart wasn't beating.
"Would he have cut the video off after three minutes if I hadn't been on Friends? Have Friends saved my life once more? Despite the fact that he may have saved my life, he cracked eight of my ribs."
Sadly, Matthew had to cancel his participation in "the greatest movie I've ever gotten," which included three sequences with Meryl Streep. Additionally, he had previously recorded a sequence with Jonah Hill, but it was ultimately eliminated.
Matthew noted that despite the "heartbreaking" circumstance, he was ultimately happy to have gotten the role in the first place.
Without putting up a show, "I was hireable in anything large," he adds. "I had been little more than a talking head in that meeting with [Don't Look Up director Adam McKay]. I will always remember that day, that man, and that moment. What a decent man. I genuinely hope that we will cross paths again."