An interview with... Matthew Perry
The King of Comedy
Famous for his
one-liners as Chandler in hit TV sitcom Friends, Matthew Perry
tells Tiffany Rose how he beat his demons and reveals the legacy of
being such an overnight star and his hopes for a happy ever after.
The difference between the actor Matthew Perry and
his on-screen persona Chandler Bing, who we all fell in love with
on Friends, is hard to pinpoint - they share the same laugh,
similar mannerisms and timely quips. The hair may now be flecked
with grey and the laughter lines appear more pronounced, but the
blue eyes still twinkle as he tells me that at 41, he has matured
emotionally since his famed TV sitcom days.
"I'm very much like Chandler, with the funny one-liners,
but I've grown up," he tells me. "I've been
through so many ups and downs, and so I'm kind of different
from that guy now. I was 24 when I got the show and deflected
everything with a sense of humour. And I do mean, everything! I
wasn't comfortable in any kind of serious situation. But I
later realised that it works on a sitcom but not in real life - it
takes too much energy. It's too draining to try and keep it up
all the time, so you learn to get comfortable with the
silence."
He doesn't mind being recalled for making us laugh all those
years ago. "I will always be eternally grateful for Friends,
which gave us all our big acting breaks," he says of the
series based on six friends in their 20s living in New York.
Matthew and his co-stars (including Jennifer Aniston and Courteney
Cox) were catapulted to overnight stardom, each earning a hefty
million dollar pay cheque per episode by the final season.
"Friends will always be a very well-documented chapter of my
life. I can now look at my life in reruns on TV, which is very
surreal. And I still love Chandler - that was just me when I was in
my early 20s."
Coping with global fame at that age, however, eventually led to a
long and turbulent battle with an addiction to prescription drugs
and alcohol. But following stints in rehab back in the late 90s,
Matthew has been sober for the past seven years. These days
he's looking healthier but admits sobriety is an everyday
struggle, and any hearsay of him falling off the wagon greatly
affects his life.
"That particular rumour is really upsetting," he says.
"I can turn my head to most of the gossip, except if somebody
says I was out drinking.
I am so proud of where my life has
been heading, and if someone takes a shot at that, it makes the
hairs on the back of my neck stand up."
Matthew admits that keeping his personal battles under the radar
was tough when he entered Alcoholics Anonymous in 2001 in his home
city, Los Angeles. "Once you decide you are going to change
your life for the better, it's very helpful if you can do that
anonymously. But I didn't have that option, as I've been
lucky enough to have my dream job - one of the side effects is fame
and you lose your anonymity. The good thing was that I had all this
support from millions of people I'd never met, and nobody gets
that.
To read more join or turn to page
16 of your January issue.
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to submit a comment.
If you are not yet a Candis member and want to find out more about the benefits of joining Candis Magazine...
We're confident that our travel insurance will provide you with peace of mind, allowing you the freedom to sit back, relax and get the most out of your holiday. Whether you're off on a short break or venturing further afield, our policies will keep you covered. Save up to £22.58 with Candis Travel Insurance More
Comments:
There are currently no comments for this article, be the first by using the box below.