There won’t be a17 Againreunion happening anytime soon. Recently,Matthew Perryparticipated in an interview for the SiriusXM showPop Culture Spotlight with Jessica Shawto promote his new memoir. The book, titledFriends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, has been making some waves due to the candid thoughts shared by the actor. This includes touching on his lengthy battle with addiction as well as an apparent dislike for Keanu Reeves (though he has since apologized for the latter).
In his new interview, Perry also revealed that he’d been hoping to reunite with his17 Againco-star,Zac Efron, in a new movie. In17 Again, which was released in 2009, Efron played a younger version of Perry’s character. Perry says that he tried to get Efron to sign on for an upcoming romantic comedy that would also feature theFirestarterstar again playing a younger Perry. This time, however, Efron wasn’t interested. As Perry explains in the interview of the film, which he plans to direct:
“I finished a screenplay that we’re out with to some people. I want to direct that… I have a small part in it. 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.”
Perry says Efron was offered the lead role for the movie. It would have been a younger version of Perry with theFriendsstar still appearing in a cameo. But Efron declined the film, sending Perry back to the drawing board to find a new actor for the role.
“He said no, so we’ve got to find someone who says yes.”
Related:Every Upcoming Zac Efron Movie We’re Excited to Watch
Maybe Zac Efron Was Too Busy
It’s not exactly clear why Efron turned down Perry’s rom-com, but one reason could be that he just didn’t have the time to do it. After impressing with his performance as Ted Bundy in Netflix’sExtremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Efron went on to star in this year’sGold,Firestarter,andThe Greatest Beer Run Ever, which just recently premiered on Apple TV+. Currently, Efron is working on the pro wrestling movieThe Iron Claw, and images of him from the set went viral after seeing his body transformation he underwent to play pro wrestler Kevin Von Erich.
Meanwhile, Perry hasn’t been seen in a film since17 Again, though he popped up in HBO Max’sFriends: The Reunionlast year. In recent years, he also had notable roles on the TV showsThe Odd Couple,The Good Fight, andThe Kennedys: After Camelot.
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thingis now available.
