Friends' Matthew Perry recalls Jennifer Aniston's help in his addiction phase; 'grateful'

Matthew Perry, known for his role as Chandler Muriel Bing in the popular sitcom Friends, recently opened up about his medical condition, stating that he almost died in 2018. The 53-year-old actor made several revelations about his addiction days and road to recovery and more in his memoir, titled Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir. Now, ahead of the book's release, he said that his Friends' co-star Jennifer Aniston, who essayed the role of Rachel Green, reached out to him the most when he was struggling to battle his addiction.

In a conversation with Diane Sawyer, Perry said that Aniston reached out to him the most and confronted him about his addiction issues.

The Friends star stated, "She says, We know you’re drinking. Remember how scary a moment that was. She was the one that reached out the most. I’m really grateful to her for that."

Matthew Perry talks about his near-death experience

Earlier, in an interview with PEOPLE, Matthew opened up about his addiction issues. Stating that he almost died when he was 49 years old, Matthew asserted that in 2018, he suffered from a gastrointestinal perforation and spent weeks fighting for his life after his colon burst from opioid overuse. At that time, the actor was in a coma for two weeks and was admitted to the hospital for five months.

"The doctors told my family that I had a 2 per cent chance to live. 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," he added.

Not only did he talk about Aniston, but earlier, Perry also praised all of his co-stars in Friends. "It's like penguins. Penguins, in nature, when one is sick, or when one is very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up. They walk around it until that penguin can walk on its own. That's kind of what the cast did for me," he said.