Michelle Tratchenberg, Zac Efron, Leslie Mann, and Matthew Perry on the red carpet for 17 Again
Back in the day, it was a big step for Zac Efron to play the younger version of Matthew Perry in 17 Again, his first major post-High School Musical movie role. Nowadays, it would be a bigger get for Matthew Perry to land Zac Efron as the star of his unproduced screenplay. Unfortunately for the Friends alum, Efron has no interest in reuniting with his former future self.
As part of the (somewhat eyebrow-raising) press tour for his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry revealed on SiriusXM’s Pop Culture Spotlight With Jessica Shaw that he’s proud of his completed romantic comedy script. “I finished a screenplay that we’re out with to some people. I want to direct that. I have a small part in it,” he shared. “I wrote it for myself and then realized I’m 20 years too old to play this. So we’re trying to cast the leads now.”
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Asked his “ideal” younger actor for the part intended for himself, “Well, it was Zac Efron. But he said no. So we’ve got to find somebody who says yes. And that’ll be a whole new experience for me, directing a movie, which I think I’ll be good at. I hope I’ll be good at.”
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Matthew Perry Says Zac Efron Said No to Playing a Younger Version of Him in New Movie
Perry picked another Efron co-star for his film’s “dream love interest”: “Aubrey Plaza almost did it. And that would have been perfect, because I think she’s great. … There’s some dramatic stuff in this too. She came very close, and it would have been perfect.”
Seems like a bit of an unforced error to reveal all the actors that declined to star in your movie, but unforced errors are kind of Perry’s schtick with this book tour. That aside, the rom-com business is booming lately, so there’s never been a better time to get some skin in the game. Godspeed, Chandler!
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