Matthew Perry and Hank Azaria J. Vespa/WireImage
Hank Azaria honored Matthew Perry with an emotional tribute thanking the late actor for serving to him get sober.
“Matthew was the primary good friend I made in Los Angeles once I moved there. I used to be 21, he was 16,” Azaria, 59, who visitor starred on Perry’s hit sitcom Pals, stated through an Instagram video on Sunday, October 29. “Matthew and I grew to become actually good buddies and we have been actually extra like brothers for a very long time. We drank rather a lot collectively, we laughed rather a lot collectively, we have been there for one another within the early days of our profession.”
Perry died from an obvious drowning on Saturday, October 28, at age 54. Police responded to a name of somebody in cardiac arrest at a Los Angeles house, the place they reportedly discovered Perry unconscious in a scorching tub. The authorities stated there was no signal of foul play however an investigation into Perry’s dying remains to be ongoing.
In his social media put up, Azaria mirrored on Perry’s struggles, which stemmed from his habit to medicine and alcohol. Perry candidly mentioned how his life took a flip following a jet ski accident in 1997. He grew to become hooked on Vicodin, which led to alcohol abuse as properly. In 2000, Perry was hospitalized with pancreatitis and finally began detoxing whereas nonetheless filming Pals.
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Matthew Perry by no means shied away from opening up about his struggles after rising to stardom for his function as Chandler Bing in Pals. “When [fame] occurs, it’s type of like Disneyland for some time. For me it lasted about eight months, this sense of ‘I’ve made it, I’m thrilled, there’s no drawback on the planet.’ […]
“I actually beloved him. Quite a lot of us who have been near him felt like we misplaced him to medicine and alcohol a very long time in the past as a result of — as he documented in his autobiography — there was a lot struggling,” Azaria famous of Perry’s 2022 memoir, Pals, Lovers, and the Massive Horrible Factor. “I needed to choose up and put down that biography, like, 11 occasions. It was so painful for me to learn.”
Perry detailed his a number of makes an attempt to get sober over time in his e book. On his street to restoration, Perry was impressed to open a sober residing house for males in 2013. He later mentioned his dedication to serving to others face their habit.
“I wish to be remembered as any person who lived properly, beloved properly, was a seeker,” Perry stated on the “Q With Tom Energy” podcast in 2022. “And his paramount factor is that he needs to assist folks. That’s what I need.”
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He added: “One of the best factor about me, bar none, is that if any person involves me and says, ‘I can’t cease consuming, are you able to assist me?’ I can say ‘sure’ and comply with up and do it. After I die, I don’t need Pals to be the very first thing that’s talked about. I need that to be the very first thing that’s talked about. And I’m gonna stay the remainder of my life proving that.”
Whereas reminiscing on his friendship with Perry, Azaria stated the late actor helped him get clear.
“I’m a sober man for 17 years, and I wanna say that, the evening I went into AA [Alcoholics Anonymous], Matthew introduced me in,” he added on Sunday. “The entire first yr I used to be sober, we went to conferences collectively. He was so caring and giving. He completely helped me get sober. And I actually want he may’ve discovered it in himself to stick with the silver life extra persistently.”
Azaria concluded the heartbreaking video by celebrating Perry’s legacy, saying, “Most nights you spent with Matthew you have been crying laughing by the tip. As an actor, he was so good. I simply want we may have gotten what the remainder of his profession would’ve been.”
