Matthew Perry was going to ask his 17 Again co-star, Zac Efron to play him in a movie about his life before Perry’s tragic passing.
Athenna Crosby, a close friend of Perry, shared with ET that the beloved Friends star was “enthusiastic” and “absolutely looking forward to life.” One of his aspirations involved working on a biopic, and he had already envisioned the ideal co-star to portray his younger self.
“He said that he wanted to make a movie about his life,” says Crosby. “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.”
She contiued, “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.”
In the previous year, Perry released his memoir, titled Friends, Lovers, and the Great Catastrophe, in which he provided a candid account of his struggles with alcohol, his addiction to Vicodin following a jet-ski accident in 1997, and a life-threatening incident in 2019 when his colon ruptured due to his opioid use.
In his book, Perry opened up about his personal struggles, including difficult family relationships and his relentless pursuit of an acting career. Through his story, he left readers with a powerful message of hope and strength that will stay with them forever.
