Why Did Matthew Perry Leave ‘Don’t Look Up’?

October 26, 2022

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Matthew Perry is mostly known for his role as Chandler Bing in the popular sitcom ‘Friends.’ He is currently in the news for his new tell-all memoir titled Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. In it, the actor talked about his long battle with addiction and how he survived.

Perry also opened up about how he had to leave a recent project, Adam McKay’s ‘Don’t Look Up.’ The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, and Jennifer Lawrence and is a satire on climate change. Let’s find out what exactly happened with the actor.

Why Did Matthew Perry Leave ‘Don’t Look Up’?

Perry has dropped a lot of truth bombs in his new memoir titled Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. It ranges from his career and personal life to his long battle with addiction.

The 53-year-old actor also revealed that he had to exit Adam McKay’s Netflix comedy film ‘Don’t Look Up‘ after a medical scare in which his heart stopped for five minutes. He wrote that a hydrocodone and propofol combination led to that.

Perry had even shot a scene with Jonah Hill and said that it would have been the “biggest movie I’d gotten ever.” He continued, “In fact, I was ok”. “It still felt like I was constantly doing a sit-up, so it was very uncomfortable, but it wasn’t pain.”

His medical scare cost him the Netflix project where he even had some scenes with Meryl Streep. ‘Don’t Look Up‘ went on to receive critical acclaim.

Perry Recalled His Addiction Days

Perry recalled his addiction days while he was doing the sitcom ‘Friends‘. “I didn’t know how to stop,” he said. “If the police came over to my house and said, ‘If you drink tonight, we’re going to take you to jail,’ I’d start packing.”

He continued, “I couldn’t stop because the disease and the addiction is progressive. So it gets worse and worse as you grow older.”

At one point, Perry’s addiction resulted in some medical complications and he was admitted to the hospital. “The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live,” he said.

“I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that’s called a Hail Mary. No one survives that.”