Matthew Perry wanted this actor to play him in planned biopic

nypost.com:

before his tragic death on Saturday. Athenna Crosby, who was photographed having lunch with the actor the day before he died in an apparent drowning, told Entertainment Tonight that Perry, 54, was excited about the idea of casting Zac Efron as himself.Perry and Efron, 36, previously worked together in 2009’s “17 Again.”“He said that he wanted to make a movie about his life,” Crosby, 25, told the outlet. “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.”According to Crosby, the “Friends” alum was eager to share his story, including his recovery from yearslong drug and alcohol addictions.“He was just looking forward to sharing more about his story and his recovery from addiction,” Crosby elaborated. “And really championing that cause to help more people, so he was so optimistic and happy about everything that he wanted to do.”The Post reached out to Efron for comment.

This would not have been Perry’s first time to ask Efron to work with him after the 2009 romantic film. In 2022, Perry revealed that he asked the “High School Musical” alum to star in a rom-com he wrote.“I finished a screenplay that we’re out with to some people.

I want to direct that,” Perry said on SiriusXM’s “Pop Culture Spotlight With Jessica Shaw.”“I have a small part in it. I wrote it for myself and then realized I’m 20 years too old to play this.