- Matthew Perry said he once fell asleep while filming a cafe scene in “Friends.”
- The actor, who struggles with an addiction, said Matt LeBlanc woke him up before anyone noticed.
- The anecdote is shared by Perry in his forthcoming memoir “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.”
In the depths of his addiction, Matthew Perry said he once fell asleep in the middle of a scene in “Friends,” but was saved by Matt LeBlanc.
Perry, 53, opens up about the toll his opioid and alcohol addiction has had on his body and career in his upcoming memoir “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” slated for release on November 1. Insider previously reported that the actor revealed how his struggle almost turned fatal after her colon burst due to opioid use when he was 49.
However, according to an excerpt from his book published by The Sunday Timeshis battle with addiction began decades before and overlapped with his stint on “Friends.”
Perry played the character of Chandler Bing on the NBC sitcom throughout its 10 seasons. Although he’s “determined” not to let his addiction affect his work on the show or his castmates, Perry admitted he once fell asleep while filming a scene at Central Perk.
“Addiction tore me apart – once, in a scene in the cafe when I was wearing a suit, I fell asleep on the couch,” he wrote. “Disaster was only averted when Matt LeBlanc tricked me into waking up just before my line; no one noticed, but I knew how close I was going to get.”
Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry in London in April 2016.
Dave Benet/Getty Images
LeBlanc, 55, played Perry’s character’s friend and roommate Joey Tribbiani.
At the time, Perry says he was taking up to 55 pills a day of Vicodin, the brand name of a pain reliever that combines the opiate hydrocodone with acetaminophen, an over-the-counter pain reliever. Healthline reported.
It wouldn’t be the last time his castmates knowingly or unknowingly supported Perry throughout his struggle.
In the same excerpt, Perry said Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green on the show, confronted him at one point about his drinking, telling him people could “smell it” on him.
“Being confronted with Jennifer Aniston was devastating,” he wrote.
Perry referred to the interaction during a interview with Diane Sawyer for ABC and say he was “grateful” for Aniston talk to him despite it being a “scary” moment.
“She was the one who reached out the most,” Perry said of Aniston, 53, whom he referred to in the interview as “Jenny.” “I’m really grateful to him for that,” he added.
