The actor opens up even more about his battle with substance abuse.
Matthew Perry is sharing his realizations about sobriety and addiction, and looking to help others who are struggling.
In a new preview clip of the 53-year-old actor's upcoming interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC News, Perry explains the importance of having a support system when trying to overcome addiction and substance abuse.
"Your disease is just outside, just doing one-arm push-ups, just waiting for you," Perry explained in the preview clip, which aired during World News Tonight With David Muir on Tuesday. "[It's] waiting to get you alone. Because alone, you lose to the disease."
In the interview with Sawyer -- slated to air Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC -- Perry explains that, after decades of serious struggles and a near-death experience just a few years ago, he is now doing well and getting back to some semblance of normal.
"Now, I finally feel OK, and feel like I've got some strength," Perry says. "I've developed some safety nets around this, and I'm doing really well now."
For Perry, being healthy after facing the very real possibility of death along his road to sobriety is an opportunity to use his platform and his fame to help others.
"For some reason -- it's obviously because I was on Friends -- more people will listen to me. So I've got to take advantage of that," he shares in the preview. "I've got to help as many people as I can."
In an earlier preview of the candid interview, Perry revealed that his Friends co-star, Jennifer Aniston, was the one who reached out the most when his drinking spiraled out of control.
Perry, who confirmed taking Methadone, Xanax and consuming a "full quart of vodka" a day in addition to 55 Vicodin a day, shared that Aniston told him while they were shooting Friends, "We know you're drinking."
"Yeah," Perry confirmed. "Imagine how scary a moment that was. She was the one that reached out the most. I'm really grateful to her for that."
The actor is opening up like never before ahead of the release of his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, out Nov. 1.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Perry reveals, "I've probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober."
The actor detailed his long history with substance abuse, which he says began with drinking at age 14 and later having an addiction to painkillers that lead to multiple hospitalizations and medical emergencies.
According to Perry, he's now been sober since early 2021, shortly before shooting the highly publicized Friends reunion special for HBO Max, which aired in May 2021.
Perry also opened up to People about his struggles with alcohol and opioids. He was 24 when he landed the iconic role of Chandler Bing, but Perry was already struggling with heavy alcohol use. The situation turned dire when he turned to Vicodin and got down to 128 pounds.
His addiction continued well past his time on Friends, and he faced a near-death experience just a few years ago as a result of his battle with substance abuse. Perry recalled suffering a gastrointestinal perforation at age 49 when his colon burst from opioid overuse. The actor fought for his life, spending two weeks in a coma and five months in the hospital, and had to use a colostomy bag for nine months.
"The doctors told my family that I had a two percent chance to live," he told People. "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."
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