Matthew Perry nearly lost for words after watching Friends clip of him emaciated because of drugs

Friends star Matthew Perry has admitted it's 'very hard to watch' footage of himself from the show when he was struggling with an addiction to drugs.

Perry has opened up about his time living as both a drug user and a star of one of the most popular television shows after his addiction began in 1997 in his new memoir, titled Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.

It began after he suffered an accident on a jet ski and was given Vicodin to help treat the pain; a drug Perry describes as 'like warm honey entering his veins'.

The actor admitted that if he hadn't taken that first pill, 'none of the next three decades would have gone the way they did'. In reality, however, the usage of both drugs and alcohol went on to threaten his life.

Warner Bros.

Perry sat down with ABC News' Diane Sawyer to promote his book and discuss his experiences, during which she showed him a scene from a 1997 episode of Friends.

In the clip, the group are preparing to head off to the beach and Perry's character, Chandler, makes a joke about being 'taken aboard' Rachel's big hat.

Perry covered his mouth as he watched the scene, before admitted to Sawyer it was 'very hard to watch', adding: "In this weird way I feel sorry for that guy, 'cause that's a guy that's out of control'.

He appeared to be lost for words, taking breaks to reflect on the time between speaking.

Warner Bros.

The now-53-year-old continued: "I didn't know what was going on with me. I weighed 155lbs (11st), on my way to 128lbs (9.14st) ... I feel too sorry for that guy, he's going through too much and it's me. And I remember that, and I didn't understand what was going on, but again, I'm sorry, I'm so grateful to not be that any more... but it's hard to watch that."

Though Perry admitted things got 'deep' and 'dark' for him while writing the book, he was determined to keep going because he knew that 'however deep it went for me, and dark it went for me, that will help somebody who got that dark'.

He told Sawyer: "Obviously, because I was on Friends, more people will listen to me. So I've got to take advantage of that, and I've got to help as many people as I can."

Vicodin is an opioid pain medication which can be used for the relief of moderate to moderately severe pain.

If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week