Zac Efron has responded to the reports that late Friends star Matthew Perry wanted him to play him in a biopic.
News that the actor had named Zac Efron as his first choice to depict him in a biopic arose last week (November 2), when one of his close acquaintances, Athenna Crosby, spoke with Entertainment Tonight.
The interview took place after the Friends actor was found dead in his Los Angeles home on October 28. He was aged 54 and the death has been linked to an apparent drowning.
“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, 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.”
Perry and Efron previously starred together in the 2009 comedy film 17 Again, where they played older and younger versions of the same character. Speaking of the role, Crosby also recalled how Perry said that Efron “did such a good job” of playing him at the time.
Now, speaking on the red carpet for his new film The Iron Claw, Efron has explained that he was “honoured” to hear of the praise from Perry.
“I was honoured to hear he was thinking of me to play him,” he told People on Wednesday (November 8).
He continued to say that he was left “devastated” by news of the actor’s death, adding: “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.”
Following news of his death, Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman also recalled her last conversation with Perry, which took place two weeks before his death.
Describing him as being “happy and chipper”, she said: “He didn’t seem weighed down by anything… He was in a really good place, which is why this seems so unfair.”
Perry’s Friends co-stars attended his Los Angeles funeral last week, and it was also revealed that the actor could receive a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame..
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