Matthew Perry says Zac Efron has turned down lead role in his directorial debut-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Zac Efron won’t be reuniting with Matthew Perry for the rom-com (Picture: Getty)

Matthew Perry has admitted Zac Efron has turned down a major role in the Friends actor’s upcoming directorial debut.

The 53-year-old star wanted Zac – who played a younger version of him in 2009 body swap comedy 17 Again – to take on the lead in a romantic comedy Matthew has written before realising he was too old to take on the part himself.

‘I finished a screenplay that we’re out with to some people. Um, I wanna direct that,’ he told SiriusXM’s Pop Culture Spotlight with Jessica Shaw. ‘I have a small part in it. I wrote it for myself and then realised I’m 20 years too old to play this. So we’re trying to cast the leads now.’

Asked who could play a younger version of himself, Matthew admitted Zac, 35, was approached for the job but things didn’t work out, so now it’s back to the drawing board.

‘Well, it was Zac Efron, but he said no. So we gotta find somebody who says yes,’ he smiled. ‘And that’ll be a whole new experience for me directing a movie, which, you know, I think I’ll be good at. I hope I’ll be good at.’

Matthew – who recently released a tell all memoir – noted he’s also getting some offers in terms of acting roles, while he’s also focusing his attention on getting the cast right for his own movie.

Zac Efron played a younger version of Matthew Perry in 17 Again (Picture: Offspring Ent/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

He added: ‘That’s the next thing is we’re, you know – I’m being offered acting jobs, and also we’re trying to cast this movie, so those are the things that are going on.’

Matthew was also asked who’ll be playing the love interest in the film, and while there’s no news yet, he did admit that Aubrey Plaza was ‘very close’ to signing on for the role.

Matthew wanted Zac to reprise the role (Picture: Offspring Ent/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

‘Aubrey Plaza almost did it. And that would have been perfect because I think she’s great,’ he said.

‘There’s some dramatic stuff in this too. She came very close, and it would have been perfect.’

Meanwhile, Matthew has revealed how his sobriety and battle with addiction inspired him to become a writer as a way of dealing with negative feelings.

‘I’m all of a sudden a writer. And that got born out of a meeting that I had with my sponsor and I was feeling uncomfortable and agitated,’ he said during a live chat with Jess Cagle at New York City’s Town Hall this week, noting his sponsor made the suggestion.

He added: ‘And I sat in front of my laptop and 10 days later I had written a play. So I was a writer.’

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