Matthew Perry’s Complete Transformation

In the end, though, Matthew Perry dealt with addiction his entire life. As talented of an actor as he was, he had a disease. And, this disease made sobriety a constant struggle for him. Whereas many of the people around him were able to cut back on their drinking — or quit altogether — with little to no issues, Matthew could not seem to do the same. 

As the comedian recounted in “Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing,” there was one instance when his father, John Bennett Perry, drank so much that he fell into some bushes. After the fact, John went on a walk, decided to quit drinking, and was immediately successful. The facility with which the older man kicked alcohol to the curb left Matthew in a state of shock. Reflecting on this fact in his book, the actor exclaimed, “Excuse me? You went for a walk and quit drinking?”

In contrast to his father, Matthew had dedicated a tremendous amount of time and resources to becoming sober — to no avail. As he noted in his book, “I have spent upward of $7 million trying to get sober. I have been to 6,000 AA meetings. (Not an exaggeration, more an educated guess.) I’ve been to rehab 15 times. I’ve been in a mental institution, gone to therapy twice a week for 30 years, been to death’s door. And you went on a f***ing walk?”