Matthew Perry\u2019s family and friends say the late actor was \u201cstruggling\u201d ahead of his final TV appearance at the 2021 \u201cFriends\u201d reunion special. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough to watch, because he\u2019s just not himself,\u201d his friend Kevin Pollak says in Netflix\u2019s \u201cThe One About Matthew Perry,\u201d documentary<\/a>, adding that Perry hadn\u2019t been on camera in awhile. <\/p>\n Pollak notes that at the time of the HBO Max reunion special, Perry was \u201cstruggling with sobriety\u201d and felt \u201ca lot of pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n Matthew Perry (pictured with Jennifer Aniston at the 2021 \u201cFriends\u201d reunion special) was \u201cstruggling\u201d during that time, his friends reveal in a new documentary. HBO MAX<\/p>\n The 2021 \u201cFriends\u201d reunion special (pictured with Perry, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Aniston, and Lisa Kudrow) was Perry\u2019s final TV appearance before his death. HBO MAX<\/p>\n In the documentary, Perry\u2019s sister Mia Perry Bowick further explains, \u201cBecause his health was so bad, he hadn\u2019t really been out in public since 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n When Perry decided to participate in the 2021 reunion \u2013 which brought him together onscreen with former co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer \u2013 his sister explains that he was \u201cvery nervous about coming back out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c[He] wanted to be like, \u2018I\u2019m here. I\u2019m good, everything\u2019s fine,’\u201d Bowick said. But, that \u201cwas only sort of half-true\u201d at the time that the special was filmed, she says.<\/p>\n Perry (pictured with the \u201cFriends\u201d cast in 1994) hadn\u2019t been out in public for a while at the time of the 2021 \u201cFriends\u201d reunion. \u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n The actor, seen with the \u201cFriends\u201d cast at the 2021 reunion, was \u201cnervous\u201d and wanted to show everyone he was \u201cgood,\u201d his sister explains. Terence Patrick\/HBO MAX<\/p>\n Following the special, viewers expressed concern about Perry\u2019s health<\/a> on social media. <\/p>\n In the Netflix documentary, Bowick explains that her brother\u2019s \u201cenergy and life force\u201d were \u201cdiminished\u201d following his 2018 near-death experience when his colon burst from opioid overuse.<\/p>\n The actor detailed the terrifying ordeal, in which he spent two weeks in a coma, five months in the hospital and had to use a colostomy bag for nine months to treat the health crisis, in his 2022 memoir \u201cFriends, Lovers and The Big Terrible Thing.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Perry (pictured at the \u201cFriends\u201d reunion) had \u201cdiminished\u201d energy after he nearly died in 2018, his sister says. HBO MAX<\/p>\n The \u201cFriends\u201d star nearly died in 2018 after his colon ruptured. (Pictured in the reunion special with Schwimmer.) Terence Patrick\/HBO MAX<\/p>\n Doctors told Bowick that Perry\u2019s colon had ruptured in several places, causing \u201cintense sepsis\u201d throughout his entire body, she recalls in the Netflix doc.<\/p>\n The \u201cFriends\u201d star had multiple surgeries to repair his colon, and, \u201cat one point the decision was made to put him on an ECMO machine, which is basically like an iron lung,\u201d his sister adds.<\/p>\n \u201cHis fingertips were turning black. There was a possibility that he would lose his fingers,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Perry (pictured with his sister Mia) was in a coma on an \u201ciron lung\u201d and his fingertips were turning \u201cblack,\u201d his sister says. Netflix\/ Youtube<\/p>\n Bowick (pictured in \u201cThe One About Matthew Perry\u201d) said it was a \u201cslap in the face\u201d to learn that opioid use caused the health scare. Netflix\/ Youtube<\/p>\n Bowick says it felt like a \u201cslap in the face\u201d to learn the cause of Perry\u2019s heath scare, explaing, \u201copioids can slow down your digestive track dramatically.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n She adds, \u201cThere\u2019s so much grief family members and friends have to sit with when their loved ones are struggling with substance abuse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n At the time, she was \u201cangry at him\u201d and thought, \u201cYou did this to yourself, man\u2026That was really really really hard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Perry hadn\u2019t been on camera since nearly dying in 2018. (Pictured with the \u201cFriends\u201d cast in 1994.) \u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n He stayed in the hospital for three months in 2018. (Perry seen above at the \u201cFriends\u201d reunion.) HBO MAX<\/p>\n Perry\u2019s months-long hospital stay was the first time Bowick saw him and thought to herself that he wouldn\u2019t wake up.<\/p>\n When \u201cThe Whole Nine Yards\u201d actor went home from the hospital, \u201che was still in really really bad shape,\u201d Bowick recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a completely open wound in his gut that wasn\u2019t fully and completely healed. He had a colostomy bag. He aged 20 years in three months. He could barely walk.\u201d<\/p>\n Kevin Pollak (pictured with Perry in 2010) says Perry was \u201cstruggling\u201d at the time of the 2021 HBO Max special. Getty Images<\/p>\n Perry (pictured with the \u201cFriends\u201d cast at the reunion) could \u201cbarely walk\u201d when he left the hospital in 2018, his sister says. Terence Patrick\/HBO MAX<\/p>\n The \u201cFriends\u201d reunion was his first big public appearance, following that ordeal.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the reunion, I think Matthew\u2026 knew he couldn\u2019t get to the place that everybody would want him to be\u2026I think he was really aware of that.,\u201d Jeff Strauss, a former \u201cFriends\u201d writer and producer, explains in the doc.<\/p>\n After filming it, Perry felt \u201crelieved\u201d and \u201ctired,\u201d according to Bowick.\u00a0<\/p>\n Perry (pictured in an undated photo from \u201cThe One About Matthew Perry) was \u201caware\u201d that he couldn\u2019t \u201cget to the place that everybody would want him to be,\u201d a former \u201cFriends\u201d writer explains. Courtesy of Netflix<\/p>\n Perry, seen above when he was younger, felt \u201crelived\u201d and \u201ctired\u201d after filming the reunion. Courtesy of Netflix<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tWant more celebrity and pop culture news?\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with Page Six Daily.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cHe was kind of at this place of \u2018How am I gonna keep going?\u2019 I know he was really scared, I know he was really fighting for his life,\u201d his sister says.<\/p>\n Part of him \u201cdid not think it was possible to live a sober life,\u201d she adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n While she refused to give up \u201chope,\u201d Bowick started thinking of his addiction <\/a>\u201cas a terminal illness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Perry (pictured) was \u201cfighting for his life\u201d and \u201cdid not think it was possible to have a sober life.\u201d matthewperry4\/Instagram<\/p>\n Perry\u2019s sister said she thought of his addiction as a \u201cterminal\u201d illness, his sister said in a new Netflix doc (pictured). Netflix<\/p>\n Perry died in his hot tub in his California home<\/a> at 54 on Oct. 28, 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n