Matthew Perry, beyond ′Friends′
Idoia Andueza Begué
Professional communicator with C2 level of English. Translator and English Teacher
This week marked the birthday of someone dearly loved by many, but who, unfortunately, is no longer with us. Can you guess who? Had he been alive, he would have turned 55 years old. Yes, I am talking about the popular Matthew Perry, one of the stars of the series Friends. Sadly, besides his birthday, he has recently been in the news since his assistant has confessed to being responsible for his death. Remember, he was found dead last year from an apparent overdose. But what really happened to him?
I have been reading the book he requested to be published if he passed away, and in it, you can find some very disturbing episodes from his life. The truth is, he was an addict. He became addicted remarkably easily to alcohol and any medication a doctor might prescribe him. In fact, that’s why no one was particularly surprised to hear about his death. Nevertheless, addicts usually become addicts for a reason, so what was his?
Well, it seems he didn’t have a good childhood, as his mother was quite young and very busy with her job, and he had the same issue with his father. However, he actually acknowledges that he has always been extremely needy and spent his entire life mulling over the idea that he wasn’t enough, which wasn’t true.
Having said that, I suppose the Friends fans are already going nuts over the uncanny resemblance between the personality of his character in Friends, Chandler, and his real personality, which he admitted openly. To be fair, he wasn’t an easy person to deal with due to his lack of self-control and his worrying obsession with hurting himself in some way. Notwithstanding, that doesn’t mean he didn’t deserve to be loved and happy. It is rather regrettable that some people close to him failed him, contributing to his death. Indeed, a very, very sad ending.
All in all, reading his book, you come to realise that sometimes having it all doesn’t bring happiness, and more often than not, we are the ones who punish ourselves for no reason. Happy birthday, Matty!