Matthew Perry has gained so much weight during lockdown that he's barely recognizable during rare outing in LA
'Friends' alum Matthew Perry was spotted for the first time in six months on Sunday, April 27, in a rare outing in Los Angeles during the ongoing lockdown.
The actor who became a household name after portraying the beloved character of Chandler Bing on the popular 90s sitcom was barely recognizable in the paparazzi pictures obtained by the Sun. He sported gray hair and an unkempt stubble and was seen wearing an untucked black T-shirt, baggy checked blue shirt, loose black sweatpants, and green Converse sneakers during the outing. He also seemed to have gained much weight.
Recently, the actor referenced his famous character from the show while posting a picture of a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies, joking with his fans about nude baking. "I made these by the way. Also, I'm not wearing any pants. #gettingreadyforsomeseriousnudeeating," he wrote recently.
Perry is not believed to be in lockdown with his girlfriend and talent manager Molly Hurwitz. Instead, he is said to be in quarantine with sober pals and close team members who are committed to keeping him from relapsing into his alcohol and drug problems.
Despite his quarantine crew keeping the actor busy by watching movies together, cooking and sometimes playing with a LEGO replica of the Friends cast at the famous fictional NYC coffee shop, Central Perk, there are days when Perry admitted that he found isolating at his home difficult.
He asked his 6.7 million fans on Instagram on April 17, "Why is today especially hard???" prompting hundreds of replies with comforting messages of support.
Perry has previously talked about having a hard time dealing with the peaks of fame that came with 'Friends.' It caused him to check into rehab twice - once in 1997 in order to treat his addiction to prescription pills after he got hooked following a skiing accident and again in 2000 when he suffered from alcoholism. Both the stints were during the shooting of the show.
"I was in the white-hot flame of fame. The six of us were just everywhere all the time. From an outsider’s perspective, it would seem like I had it all. It was actually a very lonely time for me because I was suffering from alcoholism. It was going on before Friends, but it's a progressive disease. I wasn't a massive party guy. I wasn't a bull-in-a-China-shop kind of drinker," he said.
He continued to suffer from health problems long after the show ended. In 2018, it was reported that Perry was hospitalized for three months after undergoing emergency surgery on a ruptured bowel.
Although he hasn't been on TV since the cancelation of his CBS show 'Odd Couple' three years ago, he was slated to reunite with his 'Friends' co-stars David Schwimmer (Ross), Courteney Cox (Monica), Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), Matt LeBlanc (Joey) and Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe) last month to film the much-awaited HBO Max special.
Each of the six main cast members was reportedly going to receive between $2.5 million and $3 million for the non-scripted episode, which was going to be shot on the show's iconic Stage 24 of the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank. However, the shooting schedule had to be postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
It is now being reported that the reunion might be pushed to next year. A source previously told the Sun: "It looks like the reunion might have to be scheduled for next year now. It was difficult enough getting everyone on board for filming in March and it will be incredibly hard to get them all together at the same time again."