Matthew Perry praised Jennifer Aniston for being a good friend amid her struggles with sobriety.
The actor, who recently revealed he “almost” died from heavy drug use, has had his say Friends The co-star confronted him about his terrifying drug and alcohol use at the height of his career, reports the New York Post.
In a trailer for her interview with Diane Sawyer, which airs Oct. 28, Aniston appears to tell Perry, “We know you’ve been drinking.”
“Imagine what a terrifying moment that was,” the 53-year-old told Sawyer, adding that “she was the one who reached out the most. I’m so grateful to her for that.”
In the same interview, the Fools sign up The star confirmed that he was taking “55 Vicodin a day,” in addition to “Methadone, Xanax” and “a full quart of vodka.”
Rampant drug abuse nearly killed the actor at age 49 when his colon burst from opioid overdose.
Perry then claimed she suffered a “gastrointestinal perforation”, but in reality she spent five months in hospital, including two weeks in a coma, and had to use a colostomy bag for nine months after the doctors told him he had “a 2 percent chance of living”.
“They put me on something called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that’s called a Hail Mary. Nobody survives that,” he said people in a separate interview.
After having to wear a colostomy bag, an external bag to store stool, for almost a year, the actor decided to get sober and seek a therapist.
“It was pretty hellish to have one because they break all the time,” she added in the shot.
“My therapist said, ‘The next time you think about taking OxyContin, just think about having a colostomy bag for the rest of your life,'” Perry continued. “And a little window opened and I went drag for her, and I don’t want OxyContin anymore.”
Now sober, Perry candidly describes his long battle with addiction in his new memoir, Friends, lovers and the big terrible thingwhich comes out on November 1.
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and is reproduced with permission.