Zac Efron revealed Wednesday that he felt “hugely honored” that his “17 Again” co-star Matthew Perry wanted to cast him in a biographical movie.
“I was hugely honored,” Efron, 36, told Extra on the red carpet of his latest film “Iron Claw.”
“It would be extraordinary to do,” he said, adding that he was “still devastated by the fact that he is gone.”
According to Athenna Crosby, who was spotted eating lunch with Perry, 54, a mere day before the actor’s death on Oct. 28, claimed the late actor was excited to ask the “High School Musical” alum to star.
“He said that he wanted to make a movie about his life,” Crosby, 25, told Entertainment Weekly. “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.”
Crosby said the “Fools Rush In” star really wanted to share his story, as well as his very public battle and subsequent recovery from his drug and alcohol addiction.
“And really championing that cause to help more people, so he was so optimistic and happy about everything that he wanted to do,” she continued.
Perry had expressed a desire to work with the “Baywatch” star previously after their 2009 comedy.
In 2022, Perry told SiriusXM’s “Pop Culture Spotlight With Jessica Shaw” that he approached Efron to star in a romantic film that he wrote.
“I finished a screenplay that we’re out with to some people. I want to direct that,” Perry said on the radio show. “I have a small part in it. I wrote it for myself and then realized I’m 20 years too old to play this. So we’re trying to cast the leads now.”
According to Perry, “[Efron] said no, so we’ve got to find someone who says yes.”
The “Serving Sara” star was found dead at his Los Angeles home late last month just after 4 p.m. local time.
According to the Los Angeles police, they found the actor submerged in a hot tub.
“Los Angeles City Firefighters responded to the 18000 block of West Blue Sail Drive at 4:07 PM on October 28, 2023, to find an adult male unconscious in a stand-alone jacuzzi,” the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement obtained by The Post. “A bystander had brought the man’s head above the water and gotten him to the edge, then firefighters removed him from the water upon their arrival.”
As previously reported, the “Odd Couple” actor’s manner and cause of death have been labeled as “deferred” pending additional tests, including toxicology.
Since his death, a tremendous amount of tributes to the late actor have flooded social media.
Most notable was the joint statement released by his “Friends” co-stars, who also attended the star’s funeral on Friday.
“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just castmates. We are a family,” Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer said in their statement. “There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”
“In time we will say more, as and when we are able,” the statement continued. “For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends and everyone who loved him around the world.”
Aniston kept primarily to herself during the private memorial, which was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in LA.
“It doesn’t matter whether he died as a result of a freak accident, or whether it was directly connected to his drug issues,” a source recently told Daily Mail. “[She] genuinely thought his worst days were behind him. So his death just two years later comes as a bitter body blow for Jennifer.”
“This is a day that Jennifer has dreaded coming for 20 years,” the source continued. “She always wanted to help Matthew in any way she could…that was a constant for her.”
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