According to People magazine, the now-53-year-old actor, who played Chandler Bing on the popular ‘90s and early 2000s sitcom, reveals in “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing” that longtime opioid use caused his colon to burst four years ago.
“The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live,” Perry told People, adding that he was in a coma for two weeks. “I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs.”
He went on to spend five months in the hospital and nine months using a colostomy bag, the magazine reported.
Perry said his addiction to alcohol had just begun to emerge when he was 24 and joined the “Friends” cast, according to People. Eventually, he started to take as many as 55 Vicodin pills daily, he told the entertainment outlet.
“But there were years that I was sober during that time,” he told People of his time on the sitcom. “Season 9 was the year that I was sober the whole way through. And guess which season I got nominated for best actor? I was like, ‘That should tell me something.’”
Perry, who has undergone 14 stomach surgeries and made 15 trips to rehab, told the magazine that he’s “pretty healthy now” and hopes that sharing his story will help others battling addiction.
The revelations came eight months after Perry first announced his memoir, which hits shelves Nov. 1.
“So much has been written about me in the past,” he tweeted Feb. 10, Deadline previously reported. “I thought it was time people heard from me. The highs were high, the lows were low. But I have lived to tell the tale, even though at times it looked like I wouldn’t. And it’s all in here. I apologize it’s not a pop-up book.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid overdose deaths have increased more than eightfold since 1999 and grew by 38% from 2019 to 2020. Nearly 69,000 of 2020′s 91,799 deadly drug overdoses involved opioids, the agency said.
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 1994: Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing on "Friends" in 1994. (Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 1995: Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Courtney Cox and David Schwimmer of the TV show "Friends" attend the 21st annual People's Choice Awards on March 5, 1995, at the Universal Studios in Universal City, California. (Ron Davis/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 1997: "Friends" co-stars actress Lisa Kudrow and actor Matthew Perry attend the 49th annual Primetime Emmy Awards on September 14, 1997, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. (Ron Davis/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 1999: Actress Jennifer Aniston, actress Courteney Cox, actor Matt LeBlanc, actress Lisa Kudrow, actor Matthew Perry and actor David Schwimmer attend the fifth annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on March 7, 1999, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2001: Left, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer arrive at the 28th annual People's Choice Awards held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles on Jan. 13, 2001. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2002: Actors David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox Arquette, Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc pose backstage during the 54th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on September 22, 2002, in Los Angeles. Aniston won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for "Friends." (Robert Mora/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2003: Actor Matt LeBlanc, actress Lisa Kudrow and actor Matthew Perry pose during the ninth annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on March 9, 2003, in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2004: Actors Bruce Willis (left) and Matthew Perry talk at the after-party for the premiere of Warner Bros. "The Whole Ten Yards" at the Sunset Room on April 7, 2004, in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2005: Actor Matthew Perry (left) and actress Courteney Cox arrive at the series premiere for TBS' "Daisy Does America" at Guy's on November 29, 2005, in Los Angeles. (Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2006: Actor Matthew Perry and actress Courteney Cox Arquette mingle at the AFI Associates luncheon honoring Hollywood's Arquette family with the 6th annual "Platinum Circle Award" held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel on May 10, 2006, in Beverly Hills, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2007: Actors Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry picket in support of the Writers Guild of America which is currently on-strike for increased residuals from film and television profits in front of the Universal Studios Lot November 13, 2007, in Universal City, California. (Matthew Simmons/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2008: Actor Matthew Perry leaves the Dolce's Five Year Anniversary at the Dolce Enoteca on May 20, 2008, in Los Angeles. (Valerie Macon/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2009: Actors Michelle Trachtenberg, Zac Efron, Leslie Mann and Matthew Perry arrive at the premiere of Warner Bros. "17 Again" held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on April 14, 2009, in Hollywood, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2010: Actors Matthew Perry (left) and Lauren Graham present the Guest Actress & Actor in a Comedy Series awards onstage at the 62nd annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on August 29, 2010, in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2011: Actor Matthew Perry and co-founder/editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Arianna Huffington arrives at the Arianna Huffington & The Huffington Post presents Bill Maher and The Best of Huffpost Comedy event at The Roxy Theater on February 23, 2011, in West Hollywood, California. (Angela Weiss/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2012: Actress Matthew Perry arrives at the 64th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on September 23, 2012, in Los Angeles. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2013: Actor Mathew Perry poses after the 2013 Huading Awards Ceremony at The Venetian on October 7, 2013, in Macau, Macau. (Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images for Global Talents Media Group)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2014: Actors Matthew Perry (left) and Thomas Lennon attend the CBS, The CW, Showtime & CBS Television Distribution's 2014 TCA Summer Press Tour Party at Pacific Design Center on July 17, 2014, in West Hollywood, California. (Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2015: Actor Matthew Perry attends Venice Family Clinic's Silver Circle Gala at Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel on March 9, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California. (Mike Windle/Getty Images for Venice Family Clinic)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2016: Actors Thomas Lennon (left), Wendell Pierce, Yvette Nicole Brown, Lindsay Sloane and Matthew Perry attend the CBS, CW, Showtime Summer TCA Party at Pacific Design Center on August 10, 2016, in West Hollywood, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2017: Actors Katie Holmes (left) and Matthew Perry at the premiere of Reelz's "The Kennedys After Camelot" at The Paley Center for Media on March 15, 2017, in Beverly Hills, California. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 2022: Matthew Perry looks on during the Women’s Singles Final match between Iga Swiatek of Poland and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia on Day Thirteen of the 2022 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 10, 2022, in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Elsa/Getty Images)