Hank Azaria has revealed that late actor Matthew Perry took him to his first Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting.
In a poignant video message on Instagram on Sunday, the 59-year-old actor credited the late Friends star with bringing him to AA for the first time.
“The whole first year I was sober, we went to meetings together,” Hank shared in his video. “As a sober person, (Matthew) was so caring and giving and wise. And he totally helped me get sober.”
The actor continued, “I really wish he could have found it in himself to stay with the sober life more consistently.”
Matthew was found dead aged 54 in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on Saturday. Although he previously battled addiction, no drugs were found on the scene and no foul play was suspected.
The Fools Rush In actor met Hank when he was 16 on the set of a TV show pilot. The Simpsons star, who also played Phoebe’s love interest David in Friends, is mentioned often in Matthew’s 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
In the video, Hank, who has been sober for 17 years, admitted that it was “painful to read” the autobiography and his close friend’s detailed account of his battle with addiction to painkillers and alcohol.
“I really loved him. A lot of us who were close to him felt like we lost him to drugs and alcohol a long time ago because – as he documented in his autobiography – there was so much suffering,” he stated. “It’s heartbreaking for those of us who loved him and knew him really well personally. We just missed him.”
He concluded, “It’s one of the terrible things about this disease is it just takes away the person you love.”
During an interview with podcaster Tom Power last year, Matthew shared that he hoped to be remembered for his work helping others with addiction, including his Perry House sober living facility, instead of just his role as Chandler Bing in Friends.