Catherine Shuttleworth
Nov 04, 2023
Wibbitz / VideoElephant
The late Matthew Perry who tragically passed last week, apparently knew who he wanted to portray him in a biopic about his life.
Just a day before his passing the 54-year-old had spoken to friend Athenna Crosby, telling her that he wanted Zac Efron to portray a younger version of him.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Crosby said: "He said that he wanted to make a movie about his life.
He had worked with Zac Efron in the past on a movie, and said he wanted Zac Efron to play him as a younger version and that he was gonna ask him soon to do that."
In 2009, Perry and Efron co-starred in 17 Again, where they played the younger and older versions of the same character in the body-swap comedy.
Actors Michelle Trachtenberg, Zac Efron, Leslie Mann and Matthew Perry arrive at the premiere of Warner Bros. "17 Again" held at Grauman's Chinese Theater on April 14, 2009 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
"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 optimistic and happy about everything that he wanted to do," Crosby told ET.
The day before his Death, Crosby shared that Perry "was doing great" and "cracking jokes" over lunch, as well as being "very optimistic about the future."
She also added that since the release of his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, he had felt that there had "been a public resurgence of interesting in him lately" - and that he hoped "to utilise that to have a second act in his career."
Perry died from an apparent drowning in his hot tub on Oct. 28.
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