Matthew Perry is hoping to turn his battle with addiction into something positive.
In an exclusive look at the trailer for his primetime interview with Diane Sawyer, airing Oct. 28 on ABC, the actor opens up about his struggles with addiction like never before—because he says he had no other choice.
“Secrets kill you,” Perry says. “Secrets kill people like me.”
Perry tells Sawyer about the rampant drug and alcohol use that controlled his life during the height of his career, and how it nearly derailed everything.
“At the time I should have been the toast of the town,” Perry reveals, “I was in a dark room meeting nothing but drug dealers and completely alone.”
The Friends star tells Sawyer that, in the depths of his addiction, he was taking “55 Vicodin a day” in addition to the “Methadone, Xanax, a full quart of vodka a day” mentioned by Sawyer.
Perry tells Sawyer he was “in a coma and escaped death really narrowly,” which he also reveals in his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, also available Oct. 28.
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The 53-year-old actor reveals that his Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston, who he calls “Jenny,” confronted him about his struggles, once telling him, “We know you’re drinking.”
Perry adds, “Imagine how scary a moment that was.”
He reveals that Aniston’s support was crucial in his recovery journey.
“She was the one that reached out the most,” he tells Sawyer. “I’m really grateful to her for that.”
As Perry and Sawyer walk through his home, he explains why he was finally ready to get candid about his life, saying, “It was important to me to do something that would help people.”
The one-hour special Matthew Perry—The Diane Sawyer Interview, which also promises to reveal never before shared details from behind the scenes of Friends, premieres Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
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