On Tuesday’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Matthew Perry discussed giving up a film role opposite Meryl Streep due to addiction.
Matthew Perry reveals a medic broke eight ribs while performing CPR on him
While promoting his new memoir ‘Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing,’ the 53-year-old actor was asked by Colbert, 58, what happened to him instead of filming alongside Streep, 73, in the 2021 Adam McKay film Don’t Look Up.
“I got CPR and the guy who saved my life broke eight ribs in the process,” Perry, who was dressed casually in a powder blue T-shirt, black suit, and glasses, explained.
“May I ask why you were getting CPR,” Colbert inquired.
“They were doing a procedure because I had pain in my stomach and they gave me propofol …and my heart stopped for five minutes,” Perry explained, referring to the anesthetic used during surgery.
“So you were legally dead for five minutes?” asked Colbert.
“Well, no, I didn’t flatline, but my heart did stop for five minutes,” Perry explained.
“What is the difference between that and flatline,” asked Colbert.
“I don’t know,’ Perry admitted.
“They didn’t want to tell you because there’s no difference between those two,” Colbert explained.
Perry stated that he awoke 10 hours later in a different hospital.
“I had to give up the biggest movie I’d ever gotten. I had four scenes with Meryl Streep,” said Perry.
He joked that Streep was asking about him on the set of the star-studded film, which will premiere on Netflix on December 24, 2021, after a limited theatrical run.
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Perry tweeted about joining the cast of the apocalyptic political satire black comedy starring Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, and Cate Blanchett in October 2020.
‘I just booked a movie with Meryl Streep! If you need me, I’ll be on the treadmill for the next 6 weeks. #Don’tlookup,’ on October 14, 2020, he tweeted.
“I am not sure why Leonardo DiCaprio is billed ahead of me in the upcoming film ” Don’t Look Up” But I don’t want you guys to worry about it. I know some people. We’ll figure this thing out. #Couldnotbemoreexcited matthew perry @MatthewPerry,’ Perry tweeted the next day.”
Perry worked with Hill on a group scene for Don’t Look Up and admitted in his memoir that he was on 1,800 milligrams of hydrocodone while filming.
During that time, he sought treatment at a luxury rehab in Switzerland and attempted to obtain more prescription drugs from doctors by lying about severe stomach pain.
Perry stayed up all night before surgery to relieve his pain, taking hydrocodone, and was given the anesthesia drug propofol the next day for his surgery.
Perry dropped out of Don’t Look Up due to the pain he was experiencing after his heart stopped for five minutes after the dose was administered.
Perry never shot any scenes with Streep, and the one scene he did film was cut from the film.
Perry’s new album, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, was released on Tuesday, and he has been promoting it on a promotional tour.
The 272-page memoir from Flatiron Books details the actor’s battle with alcohol and pill addiction while also starring as Chandler Bing in the NBC sitcom Friends.
Perry revealed that he spent around $9 million trying to get sober and that he recently celebrated 18 months of sobriety after visiting rehab 15 times.
In the memoir, he also discussed his failed attempt to lose his virginity to ex-girlfriend Tricia Fisher, as well as how alcoholism affected his sex life.
Perry revealed that he suffered from impotence-induced anxiety as a teen after alcohol rendered him unable to perform and left him’soft and sad.’
