LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Matthew Perry's memoir, 'Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,' which was released in 2022, has once again bagged the top spot on Amazon’s Best Sellers list following the actor's sudden demise on October 28.
The book, which details Perry’s life and career, including harrowing disclosures about his experience with addiction, was an instant New York Times bestseller after its release, as per People.
In an interview with the outlet on his book, the 'Friends' star said, "It all flew out of me. It wasn’t that difficult a book to write. It’s a more difficult thing to read, because you go, 'Wow, this is a horrible story.' But there’s a sense of humor that runs through it."
The book begins with the lines, "Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead," that instantly hooks a reader to know more about the star's life.
So, here are eight revelations from Perry's memoir that took the readers by shock.
The near-death experience of Matthew Perry
As per the book, Matthew Perry's colon "exploded" from years of opioid overuse when he was staying in a sober living home in Southern California in 2018. This resulted in him spending two weeks in a coma and five months in a hospital.
Perry had to undergo a seven-hour emergency procedure and had 14 follow-up surgeries. "Opiates cause constipation. It's kind of poetic. I was so full of s**t it almost killed me," wrote the 'Friends' star recalling the harrowing incident.
While he was in surgery, his family was told by the doctors that "Matthew has a two percent chance of making it through the night."
The actor stated, "I will have to live out the rest of my days knowing that my mother and others heard those words," about the heartbreaking situation.
Matthew Perry's heart stopped for five minutes in 2020
Matthew Perry apparently faced adverse symptoms after he received a prescription for hydrocodone while staying at a Switzerland-based treatment center in 2020. The drug proved to be near fatal when mixed with the propofol he was given for surgery.
"I was given the shot at eleven a.m. I woke up 11 hours later in a different hospital. Apparently, the propofol had stopped my heart. For five minutes," wrote the 'Friends' star.
He continued, "Nothing had been beating. I was told that some beefy Swiss guy really didn't want the guy from Friends dying on his table and did CPR on me for the full five minutes, beating and pounding my chest. If I hadn't been on Friends, would he have stopped at three minutes?"
Subsequently, the actor had to quit the Netflix movie 'Don't Look Up' as the life-saving tactics caused eight broken ribs, and Perry was in "too much pain" to continue filming.
Matthew Perry spent millions on his journey to sobriety
"I have spent upward of $7 million trying to get sober. I have been to six thousand AA meetings. (Not an exaggeration, more an educated guess.) I've been to rehab fifteen times. I've been in a mental institution, gone to therapy twice a week for thirty years, been to death's door," stated Matthew Perry in his memoir.
At the time of its publication, he had been sober for 18 months.
The actor shared that he once considered alcohol his "best friend," saying, "I would have gone crazy without it...Learning to move forward in life without it was tantamount to asking someone to go about his or her day without breathing."
Perry also got addicted to Vicodin after he suffered an injury on the set of 'Fools Rush In', and was apparently taking 55 pills a day before checking into rehab for the first time in 1997.
Matthew Perry once asked out Jennifer Aniston
Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston met through mutual acquaintances three years before they were cast in 'Friends'. The actor revealed that he was "immediately taken by" her and asked Aniston out, an offer she declined.
"But she said she'd love to be friends with me. And I compounded the compound by blurting, 'We can't be friends!'," wrote Perry.
When the cast for the sitcom assembled for the first time, the actor admitted to having been "still attracted" to her, but they "were able to sail right past the past and focus on the fact that we had both gotten the best job Hollywood had to offer."
The six main actors formed a close bond, as Perry wrote, "From that first morning we were inseparable."
Matthew Perry briefly left his treatment center to film Chandler's wedding episode
Matthew Perry was able to briefly leave his treatment center in Malibu to film Chandler Bing and Monica Geller's wedding, which took place in 'Friends' Season 7.
"When I arrived, Jen Aniston said, 'I've been mad at you'.' Honey,' I said, 'if you knew what I'd been through, you would not be mad at me'," wrote the actor.
He continued, "With that, we hugged, and I got the work done. 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."
Matthew Perry briefly dated Julia Roberts
Matthew Perry started seeing Julia Robers after she signed on to guest star in an episode of 'Friends' in 1996. The actor even met her parents when he joined their family trip to New Mexico to celebrate New Year.
In the memoir, he wrote, "We jumped in this big blue truck and drove up a mountain, snow swirling around. Eventually, we reached a mountaintop, and for a moment the weather cleared, and we could see New Mexico and beyond, all the way back to Canada."
"As we sat there, she made me feel like the king of the world. A gentle snow was falling, and with that, 1996 began," continued the 'Friends' star.
The couple stayed together for only three months, as Perry admitted "dating Julia Roberts had been too much for me. I had been constantly certain that she was going to break up with me. Why would she not? I was not enough; I could never be enough; I was broken, bent, unlovable."
He mentioned, "So instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts."
Matthew Perry's secret flings with Hollywood A-listers
Matthew Perry was visiting his grandfather in Massachusetts in September 1994 before the premiere of 'Friends' when Gwyneth Paltrow was doing a play in the area and they seemed to have hit it off.
"At some big party, we slipped off into a broom cupboard and made out. We were both still unknown enough that it didn't make it to the tabloids," wrote the actor.
He also reportedly went on a date with Cameron Diaz after she broke up with Justin Timberlake in 2007. Perry recalled, "The date was at a dinner party with a bunch of other people, but upon seeing me, Cameron got almost instantly stoned. It was clear that she wasn't interested in me at all."
During a game of Pictionary, the 'Holiday' actress missed while punching Perry's shoulder "and instead, punched me smack in the side of my face. 'Are you f**king kidding me?' I said, realizing I'd just been punched in the face by Cameron Diaz."
Matthew Perry proposed to Molly Hurwitz while he was high
In 2020, Perry revealed that he proposed to his then-girlfriend, whom he did not name while staying at a rehabilitation facility in Switzerland. He was admittedly "high on 1,800 milligrams of hydrocodone" at the time of the proposal.
"I had even asked for her family's blessing. Then I'd proposed, high as a kite. And on one knee. And she knew it, too. And she said yes," wrote Perry.
The couple remained engaged after the actor returned to Los Angeles, though he later admitted about not remembering the proposal. They ultimately broke up in 2021.
