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Matthew Perry has revealed he struggles to watch re-runs of Friends because he was in a ‘difficult situation’ during the sitcom’s production.
The 53-year-old shot to fame on the beloved show, which ran from 1994 to 2004, as the sardonic Chandler Bing, who eventually finds love with Monica Gellar (Courteney Cox).
But the actor has since opened up about how he was struggling with addiction issues behind the scenes, having previously spoke of ‘not remembering’ much of his time on the hugely successful comedy as he was so ‘out of it’ on set.
The Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip performer appeared on Thursday’s The Jennifer Hudson Show, where he discussed his stint on the comedy series with the EGOT winner.
Jennifer, 41, asked Matthew if he ever watched Freinds, which continues to be shown across the world nearly two decades after it ended.
Matthew replied: ‘I watch it a little bit. I don’t watch it that much because sometimes it’s painful to watch because I was in a difficult situation and sometimes it’s tough to watch for me. But I watch it sometimes, and it’s definitely funny.’
Matthew has been open about his addiction to painkillers (Picture: YouTube/The Jennifer Hudson Show)
Matthew sat down with Jennifer Hudson (Picture: YouTube/The Jennifer Hudson Show)
Matthew said he went to rehab more than 10 times (Picture: Getty)
In the wide-ranging interview, Matthew confessed to the Sex and the City actor that he ‘wanted to be famous’ when he was in his early 20s.
He continued: ‘I wanted to be famous and I was 23 years old and I said, “God, you can do anything you want to me, just please make me famous.”
‘And about three weeks later I got Friends. But God did not forget the other part and have me a lot of tough stuff in my life.’
Matthew was in Friends with Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer (Picture: Getty)
Friends ran for more than a decade and made stars of its cast (Picture: Getty Images)
Matthew previously explained that he nearly died just a few years ago, and spent two weeks in a coma because of drug misuse.
In 2018, it was reported that he suffered a gastrointestinal perforation, but he has now confirmed that he was hospitalized after his colon burst from opioid misuse, and his chances of survival were alarmingly slim.
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‘The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live,’ the 17 Again star told People Magazine. ‘I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that’s called a Hail Mary. No one survives that.’
Thankfully, he was able to and spent five months in hospital and used a colostomy bag for nine months.
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Matthew said he was in a ‘tough situation’ during the sitcom.
