Zac Efron Would Be 'Honored' To Play Late '17 Again' Co-Star Matthew Perry in a Biopic
Perry told a friend just before his death that he wanted the 'High School Musical' alum to play him in a biopic about his life.
Zac Efron would be "honored" to play his 17 Again co-star Matthew Perry in a biographical movie. Breaking his silence for the first time since Perry's death last month at the age of 54, The Iron Claw star responded to reports that the late Friends actor wanted to cast him in a future biopic.
"I'm honored to hear he was thinking of me to play him. We'll see. I'd be honored to do it," Efron told PEOPLE at the Dallas premiere of The Iron Claw. Speaking with Extra's Megan Ryte, the actor added that "it would be extraordinary to do," also sharing that he is "still devastated by the fact that he is gone."
Athenna Crosby, who spent time with Perry just a day before his Oct. 28 death, told ET Canada last week that the actor "said that he wanted Zac Efron to play him as a younger version [of himself] and that he was gonna ask him soon to do that." According to Crosby, Perry "was just looking forward to sharing more about his story and his recovery from addiction, and really championing that cause to help more people, so he was so optimistic and happy about everything that he wanted to do."
The late actor and Efron starred alongside one another in the 2009 comedy 17 Again. Directed by Burr Steers and also starring Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, and Michelle Trachtenberg, the film saw Efron portraying a younger version of Perry's Mike O'Donnell, a 37-year-old dad who is transformed back into his 17-year-old self after a chance accident. Efron received Kids' Choice Awards nods for the film, telling PEOPLE that he also "learned a lot" from Perry during their time working together on the movie.
"He was a mentor to me, and we made a really cool film together," he shared. "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."
Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends, was found dead in a hot tub at a Los Angeles-area home around 4 p.m. local time on Oct. 28, according to the Los Angeles police. He was 54. His cause of death has been "deferred" and further investigation has been requested after initial autopsy results were inconclusive pending a toxicology report.
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