The death of Matthew Perry is still a loss fans are having a considerably hard time digesting, and his friends and loved ones have been left trying to make sense of it all, too. Perry had big plans in his final days, and some of them involved a beloved actor from High School Musical.
It has recently been revealed that Perry was working on a biopic at the time of his passing, and he wanted it to be a story that gave hope to those who struggled with mental health and addiction throughout their lives, the same way he had. With decades in the spotlight, Perry was no stranger to living life in the public eye and the ups and downs that come along with it, and his vulnerability in storytelling would be impactful to anyone who sat down to watch it.
Perry’s untimely passing has left a hole in the hearts of fans around the world, but the idea that he had hoped to tell his story in a way that would help others is just another nod to the fact that everyone who describes him does so with gratitude and joy, recognizing that he had a heart for others. So, who would have played such a complex man — who could have brought his layers to life in a way that made sense and was important to Perry? Let’s take a look.
Which actor did Perry want to play him in his biopic?
Photographed with Perry having lunch before his untimely passing, Athenna Crosby was the one to reveal that he had been working on a biopic in an interview after his death. She recently told Entertainment Tonight that the late actor really hoped Zac Efron, his previous co-star in the film 17 Again, would play him in the project.
“He said that he wanted to make a movie about his life, 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 continued by saying that it was important for Perry to be vulnerable and open in speaking about addiction and recovery “to help more people, so he was so optimistic and happy about everything that he wanted to do.” In Perry’s last interview in Nov. 2022, he shared that he hoped to spread a message with his story and his life — that people can change. It’s a notion he saw every day in those doing the hard work of addiction recovery, and he witnessed firsthand how the light would glimmer back into their eyes as they saw through the fog that surrounded them.
Perry’s camp hasn’t spoken about a biopic, but we hope if one was in the works, that it’ll be continued and that Perry will get his wish of Efron playing him. It’s what he deserves.