Matthew Perry says you can tell which season of Friends he’s on ‘lots of pills’

Matthew Perry has said that fans can differentiate between the times he was drinking alcohol or taking drugs by watching Friends.

The actor – who played Chandler Bing in the 10-season comedy series, which ran from 1994 to 2004 – has opened up about his mental health struggles.

In his forthcoming autobiography Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry writes extensively about his widely publicised addiction to alcohol and painkillers.

Perry, 53, said that fans of the show can tell whether he was drinking alcohol or taking drugs by “gauging” his weight and tracking his facial hair throughout the show.

“You can track the trajectory for my addiction if you gauge my weight from season to season,” Perry wrote in an extract from the book published by Page Six.

“When I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills; when I have a goatee, it’s a lot of pills.”

In series three which aired in 1996, Perry’s character grows a goatee for part of the season.

Also in his autobiography, Perry writes about the medical emergency that caused him to exit the Netflix blockbuster Don’t Look Up, which he was due to star in opposite Meryl Streep and Jonah Hill.

The actor said that his heart stopped beating for five minutes due to a mixture of the anaesthetic drug propofol and the opioid hydrocodone.

Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry and Courteney Cox in 1996, the year ‘Friends’ began (AFP via Getty Images)

Perry has also apologised for remarks he made about Keanu Reeves in his memoir, having written: “Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?”

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is out on 1 November.

If you or someone you know is suffering from drug addiction, you can seek confidential help and support 24-7 from Frank, by calling 0300 123 6600, texting 82111, sending an email or visiting their website here.

In the US, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP.