Matthew Perry's manager and publicist have opened up about the actor's hidden struggles with addiction, revealing that he was ready to dedicate his life to helping others before his death in 2023. Doug Chapin and Lisa Kasteler-Calio, who worked with Perry for over 30 years, spoke about the man behind the headlines and their mission to continue his legacy through the Matthew Perry Foundation.
In his memoir, Perry wrote that during the third season of Friends, he was taking 55 Vicodin pills a day just to function. He was never high while working, but his weight dropped dramatically. He entered rehab for the first time at age 26, and over the next decades made more than 65 attempts to detox from drug and alcohol addiction.
Perry's manager Doug Chapin said that while Perry craved fame, his struggles predated the pressures of stardom. 'The pressures and the demons are not unusual for people who are very talented,' he said. 'Fame amplified the pressure to some degree. More importantly, it made it very hard to have his problems happen in private.'
Lisa Kasteler-Calio, Perry's publicist, recalled that just three days before his death, Perry had called her about plans for the foundation. 'The tragedy on top of the tragedy of losing Matthew is that he was ready to do the work,' she said. Chapin added: 'We didn't have to search for the mission. We had it. He wanted to help as many people as he could.'
Last week, a doctor was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for supplying ketamine in the lead-up to Perry's death, though not the ketamine that killed him. Three others who have pleaded guilty will be sentenced in the coming months.
