Zac Efron open to playing Matthew Perry in future biopic
Zac Efron was "honoured" to hear that his '17 Again' co-star Matthew Perry wanted Zac to play him in a biopic.
Zac Efron would be "honoured" to play Matthew Perry.
The '17 Again' actor famously played a teenage version of the late 'Friends' icon's character in 2009 body swap comedy and Perry - who tragically died last month aged 54 - had expressed an interest in casting his former co-star in a potential movie about his own life.
Responding to the idea of portraying Perry in a future biopic, Zac told People magazine: "I'm honoured to hear he was thinking of me to play him. We'll see. I'd be honoured to do it."
The 36-year-old actor hailed Perry as a "mentor" and explained he learned a lot from their time together.
He added: "He was a mentor to me, and we made a really cool film together. 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."
Last week, Perry's friend Athenna Crosby - who was pictured having lunch with the actor the day before he died - revealed he was "doing great" and was feeling "very optimistic" about the future when they met up.
He also told his pal that he was hoping to make a movie version of his life - having been candid about his addiction struggles - with Efron in the lead.
She told Entertainment Tonight: "He said that he wanted to make a movie about his life.
"And he had worked with Zac Efron in the past on a movie, and he 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.
"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, so he was so optimistic and happy about everything that he wanted to do."
