Zac Efron Credits Late Actor Matthew Perry for Pushing Him Into the 'Next Chapter of My Career': 'So Kind and Generous'

Zac Efron couldn't help but give a shout-out to his late costar Matthew Perry while accepting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, December 11.

"I also want to mention someone that's not here today and that's Matthew Perry, who was so kind and generous with me as we worked on 17 Again," the handsome hunk, 36, shared in his speech. "Collaborating with him and Burr Steers was so much fun and it really did propel me and motivated me. In so many ways, it really pushed me into that next chapter of my career and for that, thank you so much, Matthew, thinking about you today."

This is hardly the first time the High School Musical alum has honored the Friends alum, who died on October 28 after being found unresponsive in his jacuzzi.

The pair previously worked together in the 2009 comedy in which Efron played a teenage version of Perry's character. Before his death, the comedian said he would pick the Disney Channel alum to play him in a biopic.

"I heard that, it's a huge honor," Efron told Entertainment Tonight in November. "To think he was thinking of me for that role, I mean, I would be honored to do it, to be honest."

The Baywatch alum had nothing but kind words to say about the late actor.

"Matthew’s been a mentor to me since we worked together on 17 Again years ago," Efron recalled. "He taught me so much. I idolize that guy and the fact that he's gone now is devastating."

"He was a mentor to me, and we made a really cool film together," The Greatest Showman star added. "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."

As OK! previously reported, Perry, who struggled with addiction throughout his life, was in a good place prior to his passing.

Perry's close pal Jennifer Aniston even revealed she had been texting him the morning before he died.

Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!

“He was happy. He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that’s all I know,” the 54-year-old said in a new interview with Variety while crying next to her The Morning Show costar Reese Witherspoon. “I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty. He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy.”