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Matthew Perry revealed he went back and revisited old episodes of his classic show friends is so difficult for him because of his addiction and drug history. The 53-year-old actor admitted he can’t go back and watch again during a re-sit interview With tompower, published on November 22nd. While describing the first time he admitted he had a substance problem, he said he “can’t watch the show because I was brutally skinny.”
As he struggled with addiction throughout the show, the friends star revealed that when he watches the show, he tends to think about what substances he’s used during each season of the sitcom. “Because I could go drinking, opiates, drinking, cocaine. I could tell season after season by how I looked. I don’t think anyone else can, but I certainly could. So I don’t want to watch it because that’s how I see it,” he said.
Though he spoke about how difficult it can be to think about the show, he said he might watch it again after seeing how it appeals to so many people of all ages. “It was really fun and everyone was nice and I worried about it too much and I want to watch friends too,” he said.
Earlier in the interview when he talked about it Friends, Matthew also spoke about abstaining from all substances on set, but it occasionally hampered his performance. “I had a rule that I wouldn’t drink or do drugs while I was working because I had too much respect for the five people I was working with,” he said. “I worked extremely hung over.”
Matthew opens up about his battle with addiction in his new memoir Friends, lovers and the big terrible thing which was published in November. Despite struggling with substance abuse throughout the show, Matthew revealed that there were a few seasons in the memoir when he was sober. “Season 9 was the year I was sober all the time. And guess what season I was nominated for Best Actor? I thought, ‘That should tell me something,'” he wrote.
That friends Star also spoke about how, although his castmates all cried during the show’s final episode, he said he didn’t cry by the end of the show. “I felt nothing,” he wrote. “I couldn’t tell if it was because of the opioid buprenorphine I was taking or if I was just dead inside.”
Since the book came out, an insider revealed HollywoodLife except that the cast of the popular sitcom are all happy that he’s opening up about addiction and sobriety. “Everyone was very supportive of Matthew and shared his story. It would never say anything about her life, it would always be about his journey through the addiction and he made sure they knew that before it came out,” they said. “They rarely get together as a group, but now that Matthew is doing better, they’re all hoping he’ll be able to bond with them a little bit more, they care for him and they’re all cheering him on.”