Zac Efron would “be honored” to play the late Matthew Perry on the big screen.
The “Greatest Showman” star graciously responded after the “Friends” actor reportedly expressed his desire to have Efron portray him in a biopic of his life.
“I’m honored to hear he was thinking of me to play him,” he told People at the premiere of his film “The Iron Claw” on Wednesday.
“We’ll see. I’d be honored to do it.”
Efron also grieved his “17 Again” co-star, sharing that he is “devastated” by Perry’s death.
“He was a mentor to me, and we made a really cool film together,” he said.
“I looked up to him, I learned comedic timing from that guy. 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.”
In the 2009 film, Efron plays the younger version of Perry’s character, Mike O’Donnell.
Perry’s friend Athenna Crosby — who was one of the last people seen with him before he died on Oct. 28 — previously revealed that he wanted the “High School Musical” actor, 36, to star in his movie.
“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 told “Entertainment Tonight” earlier this month.
“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.”
She added that Perry was “enthusiastic” about the film and optimistic about life before he was found dead from an apparent drowning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 54.
Just 24 hours before, Crosby had grabbed lunch at Hotel Bel-Air with the “Fools Rush In” star around 2 p.m.
“He was talking about how there’s been a public resurgence of interest in him lately and how he was hoping to utilize that to have a second act in his career,” she recalled. “He was happy as a clam. So, that’s the person that I spoke to.”
Perry was laid to rest in a private section at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, Calif., on Nov. 3.
His funeral was attended by his “Friends” co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow.
Insiders recently told Pvnew that the “Morning Show” actress is “struggling” the most with the passing.
