Friends star 'feared for life'

Perry (centre) battled drug and alcohol addiction

Friends star Matthew Perry has revealed that he had to leave the set of his new film to battle his drug and alcohol addictions.

Perry, 33, checked into a rehabilitation centre in Los Angeles midway through filming Serving Sara, which also stars Liz Hurley, he told People magazine inthe US.

He was drinking vodka by the bottle and suffering hangovers on set.

There's a moment of clarity when you have to prioritise your life

Matthew Perry

Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing in the long-running sitcom, said, "I've been through a very dark time. I was in fear of losing my life."

"There's a moment of clarity when you have to prioritise your life." I listened to it."

Perry, who also admitted an addiction to prescription painkiller Vicodin, said his problems reached a peak in February 2001.

The actor, who at the time was commuting between the Friends set in Los Angeles and the Serving Sara set in Dallas, turned to his parents for help over his drinking.

He left the film set two weeks before shooting was due to finish, and abandoned Friends mid-series to check into a rehabilitation centre.

Liz Hurley co-stars with Perry in Serving Sara

"It was scary," he said. "I didn't want to die. But I'm grateful for how bad it got. It only made me more adamant about trying to get better."

Serving Sara, which opened in the US last Friday, sees Perry teaming up with Hurley to get her own back on her husband after he surprises her with divorce papers.

It took just $5.7m (£3.7m) in its opening weekend in the US, but Perry is not disappointed.

"Whether it's successful or not doesn't matter. It's the movie in which my life got better," he said.

The actor also said that he expects the upcoming season of Friends to be the last one, adding that the end, when it comes, will be "overwhelmingly emotional".