Matthew Perry has retracted his shockingly negative feelings towards Keanu Reeves as he apologized for what he wrote in upcoming memoir Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing.
In the book, Perry, who has recently researched his history of drug addiction, writes, “Why do original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walk among us?” in a passage preserved by Page Six.
Following the reveal, the Friends actor released a statement on Wednesday clarifying his comments to People, saying, “I’m actually a huge fan of Keanu.
Mistake? Matthew Perry has retracted his shockingly negative feelings towards Keanu Reeves as he apologized for what he wrote in upcoming memoir Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing
“I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.”
In the excerpt, Perry, 53, seemed barely able to contain his disdain for the 58-year-old Matrix star – who he appears to have never worked with – while discussing their mutual friend River Phoenix, who died in 1993 from a drug overdose at only 23 years old.
Although Reeves has referred to Phoenix as one of his “secret friends of the time” according to The Irish Times, Perry also had a strong connection with the rising star after the future TV star made his feature film debut alongside him in 1988’s A Night In The That Life of Jimmy Reardon.
In the book, Perry, who has recently researched his history of drug addiction, writes, “Why do original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walk among us?” in a passage preserved by Page Six
In his memoir, Perry describes how her time filming the film in Chicago helped forge a strong bond while also marking another alleged blow to Reeves.
“River was a beautiful man inside and out and too beautiful for this world, as it turned out. It always seems to be the really talented guys that go down,” he writes.
Phoenix famously died of a combined heroin and cocaine overdose outside the Viper Room in West Hollywood, and Perry writes that he “heard the screams coming from my apartment; went back to bed; woke up to the news.’
He added that he broke down in sobs after learning his friend had died.
Although Reeves has called Phoenix one of his “limited friends of the time,” Perry also had a strong connection with him, having made his feature film debut opposite Phoenix in 1988’s A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon; Phoenix and Reeves in my own private Idaho
Sour Grapes: “Why do the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walk among us?” in a passage preserved by Page Six; nor from the Friends reunion
However, Perry’s jabs and Reeves weren’t limited to their mutual connection to Phoenix.
He also blasted the John Wick star aside in another page while discussing his late friend Chris Farley, who died of a drug overdose in 1997 at the age of 33 from taking a stimulant (cocaine) with a tranquilizer ( morphine), a concoction similar to the speedball that killed phoenix.
Perry and Farley had co-starred in the critically scorned comedy Almost Heroes, directed by Christopher Guest and released the year after Farley’s death.
Perry again complained that Reeves was still alive, while noting his sadness at the death of his friend and co-star Chris Farley in 1997 from a drug overdose. seen in 1997 with Lisa Kudrow
“I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out [about Farley’s death]’ he writes, adding, ‘Keanu Reeves goes among us.’
Aside from his grievances about other actors, Perry’s memoir and recent interviews delves into his extensive history with drug addiction, which may have made the deaths of Phoenix, Ledger, and Farley particularly painful.
Speaking to People earlier this month, he revealed his colon ruptured as a result of his opioid addiction when he was 49. Doctors gave him only a 2 percent chance of survival, and the medical emergency left him in a coma for two weeks. followed by more months in the hospital.
He required 14 surgeries to repair all of the abdominal damage, and he admitted to going to rehab 15 times over the years in hopes of overcoming his drug addiction.
Perry’s memoir Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing will be released on November 1st.
Dark Times: Aside from his grievances about other actors, Perry delves into his extensive history with drug addiction, which may have made the deaths of Phoenix, Ledger and Farley particularly painful, in his memoir and in recent interviews; seen in 2017