Matthew Perry “never realised” that there was a dark side to fame.
The 53-year-old actor became a household name when he was cast in the NBC sitcom Friends alongside Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, and David Schimmer in 1994 but in later years struggled with addiction and admitted that he ended up using alcohol as a mechanism for “hope”, even after “working hard” to achieve his dreams.
![Perry struggled with addiction and admitted that he ended up using alcohol as a mechanism for “hope”, even after “working hard” to achieve his dreams.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/XRHQAH2RVJDIZPY2NR2H4RPTXE.jpg?auth=419cf2ea3a270f6128e9e5d592efe088f5c4a1a677a24a5fb3597c3d21ef0cd4&width=16&height=15&quality=70&smart=true)
He told Sorted magazine: “‘Be careful what you wish for,” is a phrase that’s often aimed at me. Of course, my dreams were no different to those of billions of other kids out there, and I worked hard to realise them.
“I just didn’t ever realise there was a whole other side to life and to the realities of the world; and if I thought my struggles to make a name for myself were something, then they were nothing compared to the aftermath of actually finding fame.