Zac Efron and Matthew Perry reveal secrets from their teenage past

Zac Efron and Matthew Perry

The first thought a lot of people may have when they hear that Matthew Perry and Zac Efron play the same person in a movie is "Huh?" After all, these two actors don’t look alike and they have very different personas. (Perry’s image is being a cynical humorist with a screw-up streak; Efron’s image is being a pretty-boy good guy.) But in the comedy "17 Again," Efron and Perry are indeed the same person: Mike O’Donnell, a 37-year-old man who’s stuck in a dead-end career, going through a divorce and frustrated over his deteriorating relationship with his two kids. Mike, who gave up a chance to get a college basketball scholarship to marry his pregnant high-school girlfriend, believes his life is full of mistakes and he wonders what would’ve happened if he made different choices.

Through a series of odd occurrences, Mike finds himself transformed into his 17-year-old body, but still living in the present. He re-enrolls in his former high school — with the assistance of his longtime best friend, Ned Gold (played by Thomas Lennon) — and Mike finds out if he really would do things differently all over again if he had the chance. At a recent press conference in Los Angeles, Efron (who plays the younger Mike) and Perry (who plays the older Mike) opened up about working together, their worst moments in high school and what life lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Zac, who shot their scenes first: you or Matthew Perry?

Efron: We went back and forth. It was all mixed up. Matthew shot a couple of days, and then I’d come in and shoot. I was able to see a couple of scenes with Matthew. But most of the work we did in figuring out the characters was done in rehearsals. We had a couple of days where we were able to just hang out and talk and figure out the key moments. Really, it was Matthew’s lines I was kind of saying.

Perry: I finally realized, like on Day 5 why Zac was looking at me so much. Burr Steers, the director of the movie, he’s a very smart guy. He thought it was a good idea for us to rehearse together, read each other’s lines for each other. So that was a big part of the rehearsal process. He would say, "How would you say this?" It ended up being a cool part of the movie, I think.

What part of the past or future would you like to go to?

Perry: [He says jokingly] I would like to go back to about 9:15 this morning, have had maybe two more cups of coffee and rethink my first answer. I would love to be 17 if I looked like this dude. [He points to Efron.]

Efron: I’m 21, dude!

Perry: I know.

Zac, your "17 Again" co-star Melora Hardin recently told Parade magazine that she’s having a tough time handling fame. How are you handling fame?

Efron: I’m actually really not having a tough time. The number-one question I get asked for this movie is "If you could go back, would you change anything? If you could be 17 all over again, what would you differently? Would you go down this road?" Absolutely! I’m having the time of my life. I wake up every day with a new challenge, whether it’s filming, learning a new skill set, interviews, press, that kind of stuff. It’s always fun, it’s always interesting, it’s always a challenge. I’m very happy with that. I’m very happy with my life right now.

Zac Efron in "17 Again"

Zac, you played a high-school star basketball star in the "High School Musical" movies, and you play another high-school basketball star in "17 Again." Do you feel you’re being typecast?

Efron: Doing "17 Again," it was exactly what I was looking for. This is an opportunity to work with a brilliant cast and an amazing director. It was a chance to switch it up. It does take place in a high-school setting, but it’s not a very high-school character. That’s where I’m at now.

Why did you drop out of the remake of "Footloose"?

Efron: I was just looking for a change. I’m putting something together with Burr. It’s early in development, but it’s called "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud."

Zac and Matthew, what was the nerdiest time in your lives?

Efron: I was pretty cool until about freshman year of high school. It was downhill until I was about 17. And then something happened, and it all came back. That was the time when I was just average. I worked hard in school, got good grades. I was not that cool, so to speak. I mean, I thought I was cool, but …

Did you ever get taped to a toilet, like one of the characters in the movie?

Efron: No, I wasn’t bullied that badly or anything like that. I just wasn’t the "it" guy at school.

Perry: [He says jokingly] I was the "it" guy in school. [He says seriously] I went to a high school that didn’t have many people in it. There were like 60 people in my senior class. There was a group of cool kids and a group of really dorky kids, and I was probably the coolest of the really dorky kids.

Zac, one of the standout scenes in the movie is when you and Thomas Lennon have a light-saber fight. What was it like filming that scene?

Efron: That was serious … There were a couple of injuries, but I did hit Tom pretty hard one day. I just thank God it was during rehearsals with the rehearsal light sabers, because if we had been filming a real take we [would’ve] used real light sabers. I’m pretty sure he would’ve had less face right now.

Zac, what did you get in trouble for the most in high school? And what did you get away with that would’ve gotten you in trouble?

Efron: I looked at a couple of papers taking tests. It was a small thing. I got in trouble once. I got sent home in high school because I went up to the front of my Spanish class, and I was going to write a sentence on the board, and my pants fell down in front of the class. Everyone started laughing. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but the teacher got really flustered and upset and sent me home. That was probably the most I ever got in trouble.

How did your pants drop down accidentally?

Efron: I don’t know.

Was it a "wardrobe malfunction?"

Efron: I guess you could call it that.

Zac Efron in "17 Again"

There was so much physical comedy in this movie. Did you have any scenes that you had to do over and over because you couldn’t contain your laughter?

Efron: That was the fun thing with Tom [Lennon]. We didn’t necessarily have to stick to what was written. We tried to, but it was virtually impossible with Tom.

Zac, how did you prepare to play the fatherly scenes in the movie when you’re not a father in real life?

Efron: I thought about the way my dad tried to have those talks with me and my little brother. He was always passionate and energetic, and he delivered it like a champ. He was really excited, so that’s what came out … in the movie.

Zac, there’s a scene in the movie where you gets slapped several times by women. What was that like and did they really slap you?

Efron: It was amazing having everyone have so much fun that night. It started slow … There’s no way to fake a slap. We’re just going to have to go for it … We had a stunt coordinator that day who was instructing everyone how to slap. "You guys have really got to sell it! You have to slap him!"

Zac, you help your character’s son in the movie get a girlfriend. Have you ever played matchmaker in real life?

Efron: Maybe with some best friends or close friends. It’s not a top priority in life. I think they’re doing pretty good for themselves.

Matthew, your character in the movie dreamed of being a pro basketball player. Didn’t you want to be a professional athlete too?

Perry: Yeah, I wanted to be a professional tennis player, but I wasn’t good enough.

Was there a moment when you knew you had to give up that dream?

Perry: Yeah, when everybody said, "Don’t do that. You’ve got to do something else." I was very bummed that the one sport in the film is basketball, because it’s the one sport that I’m just terrible at.

Efron: We pulled it off together, man.

Matthew Perry (far right) with Michelle Trachtenberg and Tyler Steelman in "17 Again"

Did you ever get any advice as a teenager that has helped you throughout your life?

Perry: I wish I could go back and tell myself to chill out a little bit more and not take everything so seriously. Everything is so serious at that age.

Efron: Yeah, because everything is heightened. You feel like an adult when you’re 17. You have the social awareness of an adult. But that doesn’t really apply in high school, because everyone’s young and stupid. It’s hard. You take it too seriously. I’d probably go back and tell myself: "Chill out. This is just the beginning. And get ready, because stuff’s about to pop off!"

Did you have any close friendships in high school like the friendship between Zac Efron’s character and Thomas Lennon’s character?

Efron: I had friends from all different cliques, so to speak. I didn’t stick to one group of friends. I had them in all different areas of high school. I’ve got four or five best friends. I guess we’re all about the same. We’re kind of geeky, fun-loving kind of guys.

How do you feel about aging?

Perry: I’m much happier now than when I was at that age [17]. I think things get better. I think it has to do with taking everything so seriously [as a teenager]. I think you get a little lighter as you get older. I think it sort of takes care of itself. I think it just keeps getting better.

Efron: [He says jokingly] I cannot wait to grow up! Apparently, it’s just getting exciting right now.