“I think I’m actually annoying people”: Matthew Perry Gave Up Trying To Be Funny in His Mid-30s After Having a Strange Epiphany
One of the most gifted actors in the business, Matthew Perry, was known as the King of Sarcasm for his work as Chandler Bing on the NBC comedy FRIENDS. He passed away in his Los Angeles home. However, until a toxicology report is received, his autopsy results remain unclear.
For the audience to comprehend what he was going through for all those years, the actor also talked openly about his battles with substance misuse, which he described in his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. Matthew Perry has talked about how his experiences helped him understand that he didn’t always have to be humorous. Now let’s learn more.
Matthew Perry on sharing his substance abuse struggles in his memoir
During his appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last year, Matthew Perry opened up giving the host and the audience insights into his personal struggles with substance abuse over the years. When the host asked the actor why he felt the need to share his story now, Perry replied in a simple way stating;
“The time has come. “
The actor continued to explain that the reason he wrote everything down in his memoir was now only after he was sure that his sobriety was strong and safe and felt safe in his journey of recovery. Perry also added that his life has been through so many highs and lows and he felt that it was time for him to help people.
Perry has revealed in his memoir via Today that he had spent about $7 million to $9 million in his attempts to become sober, attended therapy twice a week for nearly 30 years, and spent a huge amount of time in a mental institution and went to rehab almost 15 times.
Matthew Perry decided to give up on being funny all the time in his mid-30s
During the interview, the actor revealed that his challenges and struggles with substance abuse were secret for so long, adding that being on a talk show was one of the worst parts of it.
Perry explained,
“I really had to hide this problem from the nation, you know? I used to think it was essential to be funny all the time, but honestly, I gave up that sort of thing in my mid-30s. I don’t have to be funny. I think I’m actually annoying people. Just be yourself. It’s OK. “
In the same interview, Matthew Perry acknowledged an incident he wrote in his memoir via The Things, which was punching a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room after finding out about the passing of Chris Farley. He wrote,
“His disease had progressed faster than mine had. (Plus, I had a healthy fear of the word ‘heroin’, a fear we did not share). I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. I found myself publicly discussing his death from drugs and alcohol. I was high the entire time. “No one knew — not my family, my friends, no one.”
He told Stephen Colbert,
“I put a hole threw her dressing room. Of course, it scared me. But being scared of it wasn’t enough.”
He added that he got medical help after Farley’s death but it was a common occurrence in his career. The late actor had mentioned in an interview with Diane Sawyer that with his two sentences, people can know that he is not doing okay, which is if he ever said that he‘s going to chill alone at home or if he ever says that he is cured.
