From Ted Bundy to Kevin Von Erich to John "Chickie" Donohue, Zac Efron has been getting extremely used to portraying real people on the big screen as of late, and he's now looking to get involved with yet another biopic — this time, the late Matthew Perry's.
The actor was on the red carpet celebrating his role as Von Erich in The Iron Claw when People asked him about reports Perry, who died of an apparent drowning on October 28, wanted him for a potential biopic. It wouldn't be such a leap, considering Efron played a younger version of Perry in 2009's 17 Again.
"I'm devastated for his loss. 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," Efron said. "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."
"I'm honoured to hear he was thinking of me to play him," he continued. "We'll see. I'd be honoured to do it."
ET Canada initially reported that Perry had told Athenna Crosby, who had lunch with him just a day before his death, that he wanted Efron to play him in any potential biopic.
"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 recalled. "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."
Watch Efron's full interview discussing a potential Matthew Perry biopic below.
The actor was on the red carpet celebrating his role as Von Erich in The Iron Claw when People asked him about reports Perry, who died of an apparent drowning on October 28, wanted him for a potential biopic. It wouldn't be such a leap, considering Efron played a younger version of Perry in 2009's 17 Again.
"I'm devastated for his loss. 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," Efron said. "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."
"I'm honoured to hear he was thinking of me to play him," he continued. "We'll see. I'd be honoured to do it."
ET Canada initially reported that Perry had told Athenna Crosby, who had lunch with him just a day before his death, that he wanted Efron to play him in any potential biopic.
"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 recalled. "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."
Watch Efron's full interview discussing a potential Matthew Perry biopic below.
