Zac Efron ‘Honored’ That Matthew Perry Wanted Him for Biopic

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Apparently, Zac Efron was Matthew Perry’s first choice to portray him in a biopic – and Efron himself said he would be “honored” to portray his late 17 Again co-star if given the chance.

Efron said as much during the red carpet premiere of his upcoming film The Iron Claw, telling Entertainment Tonight that he had previously heard about being Perry’s first choice for the job.

“I heard, and it’s a huge honor,” Efron said. “Matthew is just the best guy in the world. I had the best time of my life working with him. And to think he was thinking of me for that role – I mean, I would be honored to do it.”

Zac Efron says it’s a huge honor that the late Matthew Perry wanted him to play the younger version of himself in a biopic about Matthew’s life. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/dR2XZa5MoX

— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) November 9, 2023

Earlier this week, actress and friend of Perry’s Athenna Crosby said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that she met with Perry the day before his passing. He had apparently explained to her that he wanted a biopic of his life and floated the idea of having Efron portray a younger version of him.

“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.”

Efron, of course, has already played a younger version of Perry before in the 2009 teen comedy 17 Again. Speaking on the same Iron Claw red carpet to People Magazine, Efron reflected on his time working with Perry on that film, noting that he looked up to the late actor and was thankful for the opportunity to work with him.

“He was a mentor to me, and we made a really cool film together,” Efron said. “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.”

Late last month, Perry died at the age of 54. In terms of his career, Perry’s best remembered for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the sitcom series Friends, where he played the character for ten seasons before the show concluded in 2004. He had a prolific career otherwise, though, with other roles in TV and film and even an hour-long promotional video for Microsoft’s Windows 95.

Image Credit: Omar Vega / Getty Images

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.