Zac Efron has heard the news about Matthew Perry wanting to cast him in a biopic about the “Friends” actor’s life, and Efron would be “honored” to do it. The “High School Musical” and “Baywatch” actor spoke to People magazine on the red carpet for A24’s “The Iron Claw” and called Perry a “mentor” figure in his life. The two actors starred together in the 2009 teen fantasy comedy “17 Again.”
“I’m honored to hear he was thinking of me to play him,” Efron said. “We’ll see. I’d be honored to do it.”
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“He was a mentor to me, and we made a really cool film together,” he continued. “I looked up to him, I learned comedic timing from that guy. I mean, when we were filming ’17 Again,’ it was so surreal for me to look across and have him be there, because I’ve learned so much from him, from his whole life.”
In “17 Again,” Perry’s character gets magically transformed back to his 17-year-old self. Efron stars as the younger version of the character. The comedy was a box office hit with a $139.5 million global gross.
Perry’s friend Athenna Crosby first revealed the actor’s plans for a movie about his life in an interview with Entertainment Tonight Canada shortly after his death. The 54-year-old “Friends” star died Oct. 28.
“He said that he wanted to make a movie about his life,” Crosby said. “And he had worked with Zac Efron in the past on a movie. He said that he wanted Zac Efron to play him as a younger version and that he was gonna ask him soon to do that.”
“He was just looking forward to sharing more about his story and his recovery from addiction, and really championing that cause to help more people,” Crosby added. “So he was so optimistic and happy about everything that he wanted to do.”
The cause of Perry’s death has yet to be revealed. He was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28, according to law enforcement. There was no signs of foul play or drugs on the scene. In the aftermath of his death, the Matthew Perry Foundation has been announced and is now accepting donations to help individuals dealing with addiction.
