Zac Efron has responded to the apparent rumours that the late Matthew Perry wanted the 36-year-old to play him in a biopic about his life. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Perry's friend Athenna Crosby claimed he had told her this the night before his tragic death which was reported to be from an apparent drowning in his hot tub at his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28. "He said that he wanted to make a movie about his life," she said. "He had worked with Zac Efron in the past on a movie, and said he wanted Zac Efron to play him as a younger version and that he was gonna ask him soon to do that." Crosby referred to the comedy film 17 Again both Perry and Efron starred in where they younger and older versions of the same character. Now Efron has since responded to say how he felt feels 'hugely honoured' upon hearing that Perry had mentioned him when thinking of an actor to play himself in his biopic. And appears keen to take on the role. "I'm honoured to hear he was thinking of me to play him. We'll see. I'd be honoured to do it," Efron told PEOPLE the premiere for his new film Iron Claw in Dallas, Texas, before sharing how Perry helped him as a young actor. "He was a mentor to me, and we made a really cool film together. I looked up to him, I learned comedic timing from that guy. "I mean, when we were filming 17 Again, it was so surreal for me to look across and have him be there, because I've learned so much from him, from his whole life." Elsewhere, Perry has previously reference a time where he had wrote a rom-com and wanted Efron to star in it - only for Efron to decline the role. "Well, it was Zac Efron. But he said no. So, we've got to find someone who says yes," he told SiriusXM. How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.