Zac Efron is reflecting on his relationship with his "17 Again" costar Matthew Perry.
On Monday, Efron, 36, appeared in Los Angeles as the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarded him with a star in recognition of his career accomplishments.
During the ceremony, the actor shouted out to Perry, who died in October at 54, and shared that Perry was "so kind and generous with me" during filming on 2009's "17 Again".
"Collaborating with him and [director Burr Steers] — it was so much fun and really did propel me and motivate me in so many ways," Efron recalled. "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's The Iron Claw costar Jeremy Allen White and director Sean Durkin, as well as his friend Miles Teller, spoke on the star's behalf at the ceremony before Efron himself accepted the honor.
Efron, who first broke out as the star of Disney's High School Musical movie trilogy in the 2000s, is the 2,767th entertainment industry figure to receive a star on the Walk of Fame.
"For our generation, Zac was and is the first true superstar to come out of our class," Teller, 36, said, as he reflected on first meeting Efron when they filmed their 2014 movie That Awkward Moment.
At the world premiere for The Iron Claw in Dallas last month, Efron told PEOPLE that he would be open to potentially playing his late 17 Again costar Matthew Perry in a future biopic.
Perry died in October at 54; the late actor had previously expressed interest in casting Efron to play him in a movie about his life.
"I'm honored to hear he was thinking of me to play him," Efron told PEOPLE at the time. "We'll see. I'd be honored to do it."
"17 Again" follows a man (Perry) who is magically granted the opportunity to return to his life at 17 years old and rewrite the past. Efron portrayed the young version of Perry's character in the comedy, which made for his first film released after the High School Musical trilogy wrapped in 2008.
"He was a mentor to me, and we made a really cool film together," he added of Perry to PEOPLE. "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."
In June, the Hollywood Walk of Fame announced that Kevin Feige, Gal Gadot, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Chris Meledandri, Chris Pine, Christina Ricci, Michelle Yeoh, and Chadwick Boseman will receive stars on the Walk of Fame next year for their contributions to film.
Efron's latest movie "The Iron Claw" releases in theaters December 22.
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