Matthew Perry’s Death ‘Shocked’ Charlie Sheen ‘to the Core:’ How the Actor Is Coping With His Death

Charlie Sheen was shaken by Matthew Perry’s October death. “I felt something… when he died about, wow, you could easily be reading about me instead,” the 58-year-old told Deadline. “That was really sad.” No wonder. For years, the Two and a Half Men actor, was in the grip of his own addictions, entering rehab in 1990 and suffering a near-fatal overdoses in 1998. In an eerie coincidence, Charlie, now nearly six years sober, had read Matthew’s addiction memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing just six weeks before Matthew died.

“I can relate to so much of it,” he said. “Because I was reliving or I was experiencing it with him.” Seeing the beloved star succumb to the dangers of drugs has made Charlie even more committed to his sobriety. “Matthew’s death shocked him to the core,” an insider exclusively tells In Touch. “It’s served as yet another example of how difficult it can be for anyone who’s battled addiction to stay sober.”