1982 – Matthew revealed he had his first taste of alcohol at the age of 13
1994 – After spending his post high school years appearing in a string of US sitcoms, Matthew, 24, lands the role of Chandler Bing in Friends, which becomes an instant success. He later told the New York Times of that period:
‘When [fame] happens, it’s kind of like Disneyland for a while. For me it lasted about eight months, this feeling of “I’ve made it, I’m thrilled, there’s no problem in the world.’
‘And then you realise that it doesn’t accomplish anything, it’s certainly not filling any holes in your life.’
1997 – At the peak of his success on the NBC sitcom, Matthew is injured in a jet-ski accident. He is prescribed opioids to cope with the fame, later recalling that he took the prescribed pills without question: ‘I did and I felt better than I ever felt in my entire life. I had a big problem with pills and alcohol, and I couldn’t stop.’
He checked into rehab that same year but said: ‘You can’t have a drug problem for 30 years and then expect to have it solved in 28 days. Getting sober is a really hard thing to do.’
1998 – Despite his rehab stint, the actor continues to battle addiction, revealing ‘I don’t remember three years of [the show]. Somewhere between seasons three and six… I was a little out of it.’ At one point during his Friends career, he is taking 55 Vicodin a day.
2001 – Matt completes another stint in rehab for for addiction to Vicodin, methadone, amphetamines, and alcohol.
2003 – The TV star is sober for season nine of Friends, when he was nominated for a Best Actor Emmy.
2004 – Friends wraps after ten seasons
2007 – He receives Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominations for his critically acclaimed turn in the titular role of TNT movie, The Ron Clark Story.
2011 – The actor enters rehab for a third time, with a representative for the star saying it was to prevent a relapse. The actor says in a statement: ‘I’m making plans to go away for a month to focus on my sobriety and to continue my life in recovery. Please enjoy making fun of me on the World Wide Web.’
In his role as a spokesperson for National Association of Drug Court Professionals, Matthew goes to Capitol Hill to lobby members of Congress in support of funding for drug courts.
2013 – He receives a Champion of Recovery award from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for opening Perry House, a sober living home situated in his former mansion in Malibu, California
2015 – Matthew sells his Malibu home and shutters the rehab center
2017 – A porn star reveals she fears Matthew has relapsed after the actor pleaded with her to get him ’40/50′ prescription pills.
2018 – Matthew has abdominal surgery to repair a gastrointestinal perforation. He has now revealed he was given just a two per cent chance of survival after his opioid addiction caused his colon to burst when he was aged 49, leaving him in a coma for two weeks and spending months in hospital.
He has to use a colostomy bag for nine months, and has had 14 surgeries on his stomach in total over the years.
2021 – The cast of Friends reunite on screen for the first time in 17 years. There are concerns after Perry appears to slur his speech in a promo for the reunion special.
Ben Winston, who directed Friends: The Reunion, said of those commenting on Perry’s appearance during the HBO Max special: ‘He was great. People can sometimes just be unkind. I wish they weren’t.
‘I loved working with him. He’s a brilliantly funny man and I thought he had some great one-liners in the show. I felt just happy and lucky to be in his presence and directing him on something like this.’
2022 – Matthew gives his first tell-all interview in which he details how his drug and alcohol addictions secretly nearly cost him his life.