Matthew Perry spent $7 million trying to overcome addiction, his family revealed in a trailer for a new Netflix documentary about the late actor.
The streaming platform released the trailer on Tuesday for The One About Matthew Perry, a three-part series set to premiere on October 27, marking the third anniversary of his death. The actor passed away in 2023 at the age of 54.
Over his lifetime, Perry went to rehab 15 times and attended 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as he battled addictions to alcohol, prescription opioids such as Vicodin and OxyContin, and later ketamine. In the trailer, his sister Mia Perry Bowick, a psychotherapist, reflected on his struggles and his determination to seek help.
"My brother would talk about that feeling of emptiness or loneliness that he couldn't quite fill," Bowick said. "He spent $7million trying to get sober. That's how seriously he took his disease."
In a statement released alongside the trailer, Bowick explained that it took time for her to feel ready to share her memories of loving her brother through all the complexity of his life, to see him as a whole person, not just as Chandler and not just as someone who struggled with addiction.
"As his sister, he shaped who I am today, the person I strive to be and the work to which I've devoted my life," she said. "Matthew had a beautiful heart and a generous spirit, and even in his darkest moments, he could still make you laugh and feel loved. I hope this series gives everyone who loved him, whether personally or from afar, a deeper appreciation for who he truly was and the legacy he survived by."
Bowick added in the trailer: "All great stories have comedy and tragedy in them, and that certainly was Matthew's story."
Documentary Insights and Archival Footage
Directed by Mary Robertson, the documentary features unseen family photographs from the Perry family's private album. It also includes personal memories shared by Perry's close friends David Pressman and Roger Castillo, as well as several of his former girlfriends.
Netflix, headquartered in Los Gatos, California, is one of the world's leading entertainment streaming services. The three-part project aims to examine Perry's rise to global fame, his television career, and the severe personal struggles he faced away from the camera.
The trailer includes audio from an old interview in which Perry recalled securing the career-defining role of Chandler Bing on the hit NBC sitcom Friends.
"I was extremely happy when I got famous," Perry said in the recording. "Then it was like, 'Uh-oh. This didn't fix what's inside me'. This didn't do what I thought it was gonna do. I had people telling me to stop, say, 'You're gonna kill yourself if you keep going like this'. And I just didn't know how."
Early Struggles and the Rise of Friends
Perry's battle with substance abuse began long before he became a household name. He began drinking beer and cheap wine when he was just 14 years old, and by his 21st birthday party, his drinking was already showing signs of being out of control.
Friends, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, premiered in 1994 and grew into one of the most successful sitcoms in television history. Perry starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer, becoming one of the biggest stars of his generation.
However, Perry's rise to stardom was overshadowed by his personal struggles, which he acknowledged frequently interfered with his work on the show. He detailed these battles in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
His dependency on prescription drugs intensified following a jet-ski accident shortly after joining the show, when he was prescribed the painkiller Vicodin. While the maximum recommended daily dosage is eight tablets, Perry was swallowing around 55 pills a day by the end of the third season of Friends.
Rehab Stints and Severe Health Crises
In 1995, a former girlfriend with whom Perry remained friendly insisted that he see a doctor about his addictions. That intervention led to the first of his 15 stints in rehab. However, upon leaving treatment, Perry knew he would drink again and lasted only nine weeks before returning to alcohol.
His substance abuse led to severe medical emergencies in later years. In 2018, his addiction to opioids resulted in severe pneumonia and a burst colon. Shortly after being admitted to the hospital, Perry slipped into a coma that lasted two weeks. When he regained consciousness, he learned he had been fitted with a colostomy bag, which he was required to wear for the next nine months.
Opioid painkillers, such as Vicodin and OxyContin, are powerful synthetic narcotics prescribed to manage severe pain, but prolonged misuse can cause severe gastrointestinal and pulmonary complications. A colostomy is a surgical procedure that diverts part of the large intestine through the abdominal wall into an external pouch.
Despite the life-threatening ordeal in 2018, Perry continued to struggle. Two years later, in 2020, his heart stopped beating for five minutes at a luxury rehab facility in Switzerland after doctors administered a sedative that interacted with the opioids in his body. Medical staff resuscitated him but broke eight of his ribs during CPR. The injury forced Perry to pull out of a role alongside Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep in the 2021 satirical film Don't Look Up.
Tragic Death and Legal Consequences
Perry died in 2023 after drowning in a jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles following a ketamine overdose. Ketamine is a powerful anesthetic drug that can cause dissociation and sedation.
Following his death, five people were convicted for their roles in supplying the drugs that led to his fatal overdose. Those convicted include Perry's drug counsellor, two doctors, and Jasveen Sangha, known as the "Ketamine Queen."
Perry's former live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, admitted to injecting the actor repeatedly with ketamine on the day he died. Iwamasa pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death and was sentenced to more than three years in prison.
Support is available for individuals struggling with substance abuse. Alcoholics Anonymous can be reached by phone at 0800 917 7650 or by email at [email protected]. For help with drug addiction, contact FRANK on 0300 123 6600.
