Zac Efron Breaks Silence On Former Co-Star Matthew Perry's Death

"Friends" star Matthew Perry's death has hit the world of entertainment hard. In the weeks following his death, a large number of the late performer's former co-stars, fellow actors, and creative peers have made tributes to him, including a heartbreaking reaction from the rest of the "Friends" cast. Now, it's "The Greatest Showman" star Zac Efron's turn to break his silence on the loss of his former co-star and how it has affected him.

In a red carpet appearance for Efron's new film "The Iron Claw," the actor spoke about the death of Perry, with whom he once worked closely for the 2009 comedy flick "17 Again." "Of course, I'm really still devastated by the fact he's gone," Efron told Extra. Elsewhere, he told People that he looked back fondly on their working relationship and what they accomplished. "He was a mentor to me, and we made a really cool film together," the actor said.

In the time since Matthew Perry's death, several of his friends and peers have revealed that the late actor had big plans in terms of future projects. Athenna Crosby, one of the last people to talk to Perry before his death, told Entertainment Tonight that Perry was initiating plans on a biopic about his life, and that he wanted a certain former co-star to portray him in the film. "He said that he wanted to make a movie about his life," she 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."

Of course, it didn't take long for news of Perry's intentions to spread through the media and reach Efron himself. As it happens, the actor is more than open to the idea of portraying his former acting mentor in a biopic. "I'm honored to hear he was thinking of me to play him," Efron told People during his red carpet interview for "The Iron Claw." "We'll see. I'd be honored to do it."

While there are no officially announced plans for work on a Matthew Perry biopic, if such a project does get made, it would likely be based off of Perry's tragic true life story, much of which was revealed in the late performer's 2022 memoir "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing." Clearly, fans should also expect to hear that Efron is attached to the project if it sees the light of day.

If Zac Efron really does portray Matthew Perry in a biopic, it won't be the first time the former has been cast as a younger version of the latter. There's precedent for Efron playing a younger version of one of Perry's characters, as that's exactly what happened when the pair worked together on 2009's "17 Again."

"17 Again," considered by some to be Perry's best movie, revolves around a disenfranchised former teen athlete named Mike O'Donnell, who finds himself getting another shot at the life he never had when he magically reverts back to his 17-year-old self. Indeed, Perry portrays the adult version of Mike, while Efron plays his teenage version, and it's a fairly convincing shift from one actor to the other and vice-versa.

Even today, Efron remembers "17 Again" and collaborating with Perry as a pivotal experience in his acting career. "I looked up to him, I learned comedic timing from that guy," he told People. "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."

Matthew Perry's potential biopic actually isn't the only project that the late actor had hoped to work with Zac Efron on before his death. In 2022, Perry revealed in an interview with SiriusXM that he had finished work on a screenplay for a new romantic comedy film in the vein of "17 Again." "I want to direct that," the actor noted at the time.

Perry went on to note that he planned to appear in the film in a minor role. "I wrote it for myself, and then I realized that I'm 20 years too old to play this," he said. The star was then asked who his dream casting pick for the lead character would be in lieu of him. "Well, it was Zac Efron, but he said no, so we've got to find someone who says yes," Perry revealed.

With such a lack of concrete public details on Perry's passion project, there are any number of reasons why Efron may have declined returning to the part of a younger analogue of a Perry character. As it stands, it's unknown whether work on Perry's film will continue, and if a new director or studio will take the helm. While that project wouldn't include Efron, it's clear that he's still very much open to portraying Perry himself in the aforementioned biopic.