In "A Walk of Six", Matthew Perry played Chandler as clever and outspoken, bringing you and me joy, but in real life, he suffers from drug and alcohol addiction, and he is not as happy as he brings to the audience.
The news of Matthew Perry's death on October 28, 2023 reminds everyone of the role of Chandler, who always says "Could it be more" in the American longevity film series "Six", sitting in a Central Park café and on the sofa, waiting for an opportunity to sarcastically mock.
Whether you're a well-organized sports talk radio host in "Go On," a raunchy roommate in "Odd Couples," or Chandler, Matthew Perry has brought you and me joy.
However, behind the fluorescent screen, before becoming Chandler, Matthew Perry actually experienced a lonely childhood, deeply affected by his childhood experience, and lived a life of insecurity and deep pain in drug and alcohol addiction, which is far from what he brings to the audience.
Matthew Perry before becoming Chandler
Matthew Perry was born in 1969 to an American actor father and a Canadian beauty queen. Press Secretary of Pierre Trudeau.
After his parents divorced when he was one year old, Matthew Perry lived in Canada with his mother and stepfather, and due to his mother's busy work, he spent most of his childhood in solitude, and gradually grew into a funny, lively atmosphere in the group, but in fact lonely and longing for love. Matthew Perry as a teenager was placed under the standards of society, and he could never be called a self-servant, stealing money, smoking, and beating.
At the age of 15, Matthew Perry moved to Los Angeles to live with his father, John. John Bennett Perry stepped into Hollywood. At that time, he thought that fame could wash away the insecurity buried deep in his body, so he was very eager to make a career in the entertainment industry.
"I crave fame more than anyone else on earth, because that's the only thing that can heal me." Based on this belief, he appeared in the 80's sitcom "Charles in Charge" and "Growing Pains", and then starred in "Sydney" and "Home Free" in the 90's.
However, after he became famous for starring in "Friends", he did not gain as much security as expected, and his popular acting career obviously did not become a salvation.
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The pain behind the laughter that has not been mentioned or seen
In fact, behind the joy that brought the audience, Matthew Perry was actually under great pressure.
One of the characteristics of many sitcoms in the early years of the United States was to invite the audience to participate in each episode and include the audience's laughter or exclamations, although it was intended to create a more realistic performance environment than canned laughter, but this kind of filming made the actors only have direct and naked contact with the audience's real reaction, and the ensuing pressure can be imagined.
Matthew Perry said he would be devastated if the audience didn't react as expected, and he went through a similar cycle every night, turning to alcohol to numb the perception of worry and fear in order to combat the stress, which also led to an increase in alcohol addiction.
Not only was he addicted to alcohol, but Matthew Perry was also addicted to the opioid painkiller Vicodin during a skiing accident. Since then, he has been entangled with alcohol and drug addiction, which caused a rupture of his intestines, which necessitated a seven-hour surgery with a survival rate of only 2%, and he realized that he had spent most of his life in a treatment center or abstinence facility.
(Gaying in the same scene: "I can't imagine, no one hugs me to sleep" intimate relationship addiction, may have originated from childhood trauma)
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Matthew Perry: I need love, but I don't believe in it
As for intimacy, Chandler's experience may serve as a reflection of Matthew Perry.
In the play, Chandler is deeply influenced by his original family. His parents announced their divorce at Thanksgiving dinner when he was 9 years old, which not only caused him to develop a psychological defense mechanism of humor and irony, but also made it difficult for him to make promises to his girlfriend Monica.
Drama is like life, and Matthew Perry recalls the first time he read the script of "Six", saying, "I don't think I can play Chandler, because I am Chandler."
A review of several intimate relationships developed by Matthew Perry reveals that he was insecure about relationships, the most discussed of which was his romance with Julia Roberts.
When the two were dating, it coincided with the period when "Six" had just entered the public eye, and Matthew Perry's fame was increasing, and Julia Roberts was already a household name actress at that time, so Matthew Perry was always in the fear that the two would be separated at any time, that they would not match it, and that they would be abandoned, "I will never be enough, I am broken, I am not lovable, and I will inevitably have to face the pain of losing her", in this belief that the relationship is not stable and afraid of being left behind, Matthew Perry took the initiative to JuliaRoberts mentions the breakup because he doesn't want to be the one left behind.
In addition to Julia Roberts, the disintegration of Matthew Perry's relationships with other intimate partners has become a self-proof that it is difficult for him to let others into his heart. "I need love, but I don't believe in it. If I show you what I really am, you might notice the real me and then you might leave me."
So we can see that although Matthew Perry and Chandler are both afraid of commitment, the most significant difference between the two is that the latter finally succeeds in passing the threshold in their hearts and enters the auditorium with Monica, while the former avoids commitments throughout his life and does not find lasting love.
(Guess you want to see: Insecurity Breaks a Relationship?) 3 ways to soothe anxiety and say "I love you" to yourself before others)
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Reborn from the trough, dedicated to helping addicts for the rest of their lives
Although Matthew Perry needs more security support in intimate relationships, Matthew Perry has never been a decadent self-hurting person. Instead, he struggled with addiction, spending at least $7 million on addiction treatment over 20 years, attending more than 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous sessions, 15 addiction sessions, and attending twice-weekly counseling sessions for 30 years.
Matthew Perry never hides the pain and hardship, and actively shares his experience of rehabilitating addiction everywhere, using his experience to show his support for drug addicts. He even said: "If I die, I don't want the first thing people to mention is "Six", I hope that helping addicts is the first instinct, and I will prove it with the rest of my life."
In addition, Perry is also involved in the writing of the comedy stage play "The End of Longing", trying to use drama to help people who have been in the same difficult situation in life as he used to be, and find the dawn of life.
There's a line in the play that says, "They always say that people don't change, but that's not true, and broken people don't need to be broken forever." In Matthew Perry, we see that it may be true that it is broken, but it is not incompatible with the ability to help others, he works hard to pick up the pieces that belong to himself and others, and the future world will remember this actor who brought us many laughing moments in the way they expect - a person who lived and loved well.