Matthew Perry looks back on his crazy days of partying with Bruce Willis.
The Friends alum memoir Friends, lovers and the terrible big thing takes fans behind the scenes of the iconic sitcom and offers candid insight into the actor’s struggles with addiction. But in one chapter, titled “Bruce Willis,” readers get a glimpse of just how the iconic action star was unleashed.
Perry, who met Willis during the production of their comedy The whole nine meters, reveals that the couple drank nonstop and struggled to keep their addictions at bay while the die hard the actor knew when to stop.
“But there was a big difference between Bruce and me. Bruce was a party animal, I was a drug addict. Bruce has an on-off button. He can party like crazy and then get a script like The sixth sense and stop partying and nail the movie sober,” Perry wrote. “He doesn’t have the gene, he’s not a drug addict.”
Perry also shared some heartfelt moments with Willis that allowed him to see the “caring” side of the action star.
“Sometimes at the end of the night, when the sun was about to come up and everyone had left, and the party was over, Bruce and I would sit down and talk,” Perry writes. “That’s when I saw the real Bruce Willis – a kind-hearted, caring, selfless man. A wonderful parent. And a wonderful actor. And most importantly, a great guy.”
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Still, Perry laments that the two lost touch after that, adding that he now prays for the sick 67-year-old every night.
“And if he wanted me to be, I would be his friend for life. But as is the case with so many of these things, our paths rarely crossed after that.”
He adds, “Of course, I pray for him every night now.
It was revealed in March that Willis was diagnosed with aphasia and move away from comedy. At the time, Perry offered the actor his support in a heartfelt message.
“Dear Bruce Willis, I’m so sorry to hear what you’re going through, but you’re still the coolest man I’ve met in my entire life,” Perry tweeted. “You will be in my prayers for a long time.”
“Maybe we should get together and watch the full 10 yards and get a few hours sleep,” he added, joking about the 2004 sequel, which was critically acclaimed and flopped at the box office.
Willis also appeared alongside Perry when he guest starred in season 6 from the hit NBC sitcom in 2000.
Friends, lovers and the terrible big thing comes out November 1.
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