Matthew Perry failed to entice former co-star Zac Efron into starring in his rom-com
Matthew Perry offered Zac Efron the lead in his unproduced romantic comedy—but his 17 Again co-star declined
Aux News Matthew Perry
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.”
Asked his “ideal” younger actor for the part intended for himself, he said, “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.”
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!
14 Comments
Oh, I’m embarrassed for him. That’s like cringe-level cringe right there.
Could he BE any more cringe?
I’m at least a week late with that “joke”, aren’t i?
It seems to have some legs.
what, just now?
Matthew Perry cosplaying Steve Bannon?
Anyone here actually read the book?
I don’t blame him for avoiding it. Side note, I actually liked 17 Again. Maybe it’s because I crushed hard on Michelle Trachtenberg back in the day, or Thomas Lennons LOTR nerdiness spoke to me, or it was because I was actually 17 when it came out, but it was fun movie. Funny enough, I always remembered John Cusack playing the dad, so it was really weird when I re-watched it a few years ago and it was Mathew Perry in the role. My personal Mandela Effect I guess.
It’s no 13 Going On 30, but then what is. I remember liking it too.
How’d you get 17 Again mashed up with Hot Tub Time Machine?
No clue. I may have watched them right around the same time, as HTTM came out in early 2010, not long after 17 Again. I didn’t watch 17 again in theaters, I watched it on DVD.
This has been another sad chapter of Matthew Goes Banana and The Big Terrible Thong
I feel sorry for him. Most celeb memoirs suck because they’re way too protective of their own image and too circumspect about the antics of other celebs. Perry just seems to have thrown all his shit at the wall and got no protection from his editors, so it’s just come off really embarrassing and sad.
“She came very close, and it would have been perfect.”For some reason I hear this in trump’s voice. Mainly because it sounds like a self-aggrandizing lie that is ultimately a big self-own.
But if he is using “Chandlerspeak” how will I know what to believe?He invented that shit, yo.