NEWSCourteney Cox Insists Matthew Perry Relied On Humor 'For His Own Self-Worth' While Filming 'Friends': He 'Struggled For A While'
Feb. 21 2022, Published 9:27 a.m. ET
Courteney Cox is opening up about her good friend Matthew Perry.
The 57-year-old actress — who starred alongside Perry on NBC's sitcom Friends — is speaking out about the actor's longtime struggles while they filmed the hit show together for 10 seasons.
Perry, 52, has been very vocal about his battle with substance abuse and alcohol addiction, which he masked behind laughter in his beloved role as funnyman Chandler Bing from 1994 to 2004.
In a new interview with the Sunday Times, Cox — who played Perry's TV wife, Monica Geller — explained her costar was often under pressure to make everyone else at the L.A. studio laugh every day.
"That was a lot of pressure he put on himself," Cox told the outlet. "That's a lot to think how much he relied on that for his own self-worth."
"He's just struggled for a while," she pointed out, seemingly alluding to Perry's tumultuous addiction journey. However, the Scream star added that Perry seems to be "doing great now."
Perry previously admitted to using his witty sense of humor to hide the much darker parts of his life. In an interview with The New York Times in 2002, the 17 Again actor likened himself to his on-screen character, explaining: "It's no accident that Chandler is a guy who is trying to deter his own emotional feelings with laughter. That's what I did for years."
"I've tried to palm myself off as being a jokester, kind of like hanging out with me is kind of like a vacation," he continued to the outlet, "But that could only take me so far."
Now, Perry is expected to spill more details than ever before in his new tell-all memoir: Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. As OK! previously reported, the comedian has no plans to "sugarcoat" any of the ugly truth.
"He wants to recount his experiences, both good and bad, to help others and set the record straight over a number of incidents that were either untold until now, taken out of context or in some way totally twisted the wrong way and needing complete clarification," an insider dished.
"He'll delve into his addictions, of course, plus clear up rumors about about his feelings for the Friends costars. Plus, he'll discuss what went wrong in a number of his past relationships. It wasn't always a bed of roses for Matthew on and off the Friends set, and Matt isn't going to sugarcoat the tougher times that he went through with the cast," the source added.
When Perry first announced the memoir earlier this month, he explained via Instagram: "So much has been written about me in the past. I thought it was time people heard from me. The highs were high, the lows were low. But I have lived to tell the tale, even though at times it looked like I wouldn't. And it's all in here. I apologize it's not a pop up book."
The bombshell book is expected to hit shelves on November 1, 2022.
