HEALTHMatthew Perry Spent '$7 Million Trying to Get Sober,' His Sister Reveals in New Documentary
The late Matthew Perry spent about $7 million during his sobriety journey, according to his sister, Mia Perry Bowick.
Sept. 29 2026, Updated 11:10 a.m. ET
Matthew Perry's sister, Mia Perry Bowick, is shedding some light on the late actor's sobriety journey.
In a trailer for an upcoming Netflix documentary series about the late Friends actor, Bowick revealed the staggering amount of money he spent trying to combat his addiction battles.
A new documentary series about Matthew Perry's life and legacy will be released on October 27.
Perry's life and legacy will be chronicled in the forthcoming three-part series, The One About Matthew Perry, and will drop on the streamer come October 27.
“He spent $7 million trying to get sober,” Bowick said in the clip. “That’s how seriously he took his disease.”
“All great stories have comedy and tragedy in them, and that certainly was Matthew’s story," she continued. “He would talk about that feeling of emptiness or loneliness that he couldn’t quite fill.”
Matthew Perry Died in October 2023
Matthew Perry's sister, Mia Perry Bowick, opened up about her brother's struggles in a new Netflix series.
The 17 Again alum died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54 after he was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles residence.
He died from the acute effects of ketamine, with contributing factors of drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine.
A Jet Ski Accident Led to Matthew Perry's Addiction to Pills
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Matthew Perry died in October 2023 at the age of 54.
Perry struggled throughout his life with substance abuse, and once noted he'd been to rehab 15 times.
He told The New York Times back in 2002 how a jet ski accident in 1997 led him to become dependent on pills as he was prescribed Vicodin.
“It wasn’t my intention to have a problem with it,” he said at the time. “But from the start, I liked how it made me feel, and I wanted to get more.”
Matthew Perry became addicted to pills after a 1997 jet ski accident.
Perry also noted he would arrive to the set of Friends "extremely hungover," adding it was "so horrible to feel that way and have to work and be funny on top of that.”
In May 2000, he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California for pancreatitis, which is an illness that causes the pancreas organ to become inflamed after excessive alcohol use.
“Unfortunately, that still wasn’t enough to get me to quit drinking,” The Whole Nine Yards actor previously said.
Matthew Perry Was Only Fully Sober for Season 9 of 'Friends'
'Friends' aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004.
Perry iconically played Chandler Bing on the hit NBC sitcom, which aired on the network from 1994 until 2004 across 10 seasons.
In his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, the Canadian native discussed being in the throes of addiction while filming the show.
He shared he was taking 55 Vicodin pills a day at one point, even writing the ways the viewers could tell which seasons of the show he was addicted to either alcohol or drugs.
“When I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills. When I have a goatee, it’s lots of pills," he penned, adding season nine was the only series of episodes he was fully sober for.
