Zac Efron Honors “Mentor” Matthew Perry in His Acceptance Speech at His Hollywood Walk of Fame Event

Zac Efron took a minute to pay tribute to his buddy and "17 Again" co-star, Matthew Perry, at the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday. As reported by Mirror, Efron said, "I really also want to mention someone that’s not here today, and that’s Matthew Perry, who was so kind and generous with me while we worked on ‘17 Again’ together." Working with Perry, according to Efron, was "so much fun and it really did propel me and motivate me in so many ways. It really pushed me into the next chapter of my career and for that, thank you so much Matthew."

In the 2009 romantic comedy, "17 Again," starring Efron as Perry's younger self, the protagonist is given the opportunity to start over as 17-year-old Perry again. As to his friend Athenna Crosby, who had spent time with the "Friends" star the day before his death, Perry had even recently said that he wished to work with Efron once again. Crosby confessed to ET, "And he had worked with Zac Efron in the past on a movie, and he said that he wanted Zac Efron to play him as a younger version [of himself] and that he was gonna ask him soon to do that. He was just looking forward to sharing more about his story and his recovery from addiction, and really championing that cause to help more people, so he was so optimistic and happy about everything that he wanted to do."

Efron said to People last month at the Iron Claw global premiere in Dallas that he would be amenable to portraying his late costar Matthew Perry in a biopic in the future. Efron said, "I'm honored to hear he was thinking of me to play him. We'll see. I'd be honored to do it." Efron talked about how "devastated" he is by Perry's passing while also sharing happy recollections of working with the Friends actor in the 2009 comedy 17 Again. He further added, "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."

The 54-year-old former Friends actor was discovered unconscious in his Los Angeles home. At 4:07 p.m., emergency personnel were summoned after he allegedly had a heart attack. In a statement, the Los Angeles Fire Department said that Matthew was "repositioned" by his assistant after being discovered submerged in his jacuzzi. Despite the presence of prescription medicines, investigators said that no illicit narcotics were discovered at his residence. According to TMZ, the LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division often looks into high-profile crimes involving well-known stars.