Matthew Perry Reflected on “Ups & Downs” in Life One Year Before Death

Just one year before his tragic death, Matthew Perry felt proud to be able to share his life story.

The Friends alum—who died at age 54 in an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home Oct. 28—released his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing in November 2022. And amid recounting his rise to fame on the NBC sitcom, he gave insight into his decades-long sobriety journey. 

In the book, Perry recalled battling drug and alcohol abuse since his teens, sharing he spent $7 million trying to get clean over the years. At the time of publication, he was 18 months sober.

“There’s been some real up and downs in my life,” Perry told E! News following the memoir’s release, “and this is a lot about the downs, but the further down you go, the more people you can help.”

The Fools Rush In actor also shared why it meant so much to him that readers “took the story into their hearts.”