Zac Efron honors ‘17 Again’ co-star Matthew Perry at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony

By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — Zac Efron took a moment to honor his friend and “17 Again” co-star Matthew Perry on Monday when he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“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,” Efron said during his ceremony speech.

Efron described collaborating with Perry as “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.”

“Thinking about you a lot today,” Efron said, appearing to get emotional.

Perry died at his Los Angeles home in October. He was 54.

Efron played the younger version of Perry’s “17 Again” character in the 2009 rom-com, where Perry’s character is transformed back into his 17-year-old self in a chance to rewrite his life.

Perry had even recently expressed his desire to collaborate with Efron again, according to his friend, Athenna Crosby, who spent time with the “Friends” actor the day before he died.

“He said that he wanted to make a movie about his life, 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,” Crosby told Entertainment Tonight last month. “He was going to ask him soon to do that,” she added.

The “High School Musical” star told Extra TV in November that he was “hugely honored” to learn about Perry’s hopes of casting him. “It would be extraordinary to do and, of course, I’m just really still devastated by the fact he’s gone.”

“We’ll see what happens,” he added.

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