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LOS ANGELES -- Hard to believe Matthew Perry -- snappy, wise-cracking Chandler Bing from TV's Friends -- ever took himself too seriously.
But growing up, the Canadian-raised quipster was apparently far from the quick-witted, carefree class clown.
"I wish I could just go back and tell myself to chill out a little more and not take everything so seriously," says the 39-year-old when asked what he'd change if he could be a teen again a la his new hit comedy 17 Again.
"Everything's so serious when you're that age."
Back then, Perry's adolescence was divided between his parents: After being brought up in Ottawa by his Canadian mother, he moved to Los Angeles to be with his American father, actor John Bennett Perry.
"I went to a high school that didn't have many people in it," he says. "There was like 60 people in my senior class. But I was still not the cool kid. There was a group of cool kids and a group of dorky kids, and I was probably the coolest of the dorky kids.
"But I am much happier now than I was at that age. I think you get a little lighter as you get older, so it takes care of itself. I think it gets better."
In 17 Again, which earned $24 million in its debut weekend, Perry plays Mike O'Donnell, a 37-year-old pharmaceutical salesman separated from his wife (Leslie Mann) and estranged from his teenage children (Michelle Trachtenberg and Sterling Knight).
He blames his dreary life on a choice he made in high school: To give up a basketball scholarship in college to marry his pregnant girlfriend.
As is the case with characters in films ranging from It's a Wonderful Life to the forthcoming Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, he gets the opportunity to revisit his life -- and redo wrongs -- when an angelic stranger restores him to his 17-year-old self (played by High School Musical's Zac Efron).
"I would love to be 17 if I looked like this dude," Perry says, referring to Efron, who's sitting beside him at today's news conference. "That'd be great. ... Actually, I'd like to go back to 9:15 this morning. Have had maybe two more cups of coffee and rethink my first answer."
Of course, as Perry just noted, it's a stretch to think he ever looked like Efron, at whatever age.
So to help suspend the disbelief of audience members who care about these things, Efron carefully studied the older actor's mannerisms and vocal inflections in episodes of Friends as well as the Aaron Sorkin-produced series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
"I finally realized on day five of rehearsals why Zac was looking at me so much," Perry says.
"Burr Steers, who directed the movie, is a very smart guy. And he felt that it would be a good idea for us to rehearse together and to read each other's lines for each other, so that was a big part of the rehearsal process."
Remembers Efron, "Matthew shot a couple days and then I was able to see some of what Matt had done, for sure. But most of the work we had done was figured out during rehearsals. We had a couple days we were able to hang out."
Says Perry, "(Zac) would say, 'How would you read this?' and I think it ended up being a cool part of the movie, I think."
Less cool for him?
That his character is a high school basketball star. Seems the sport is one of the few he didn't excel in.
"I grew up wanting to be a professional tennis player, but I wasn't good enough," says Perry, who nevertheless was a top-ranked junior player.
"I was very bummed that the sport in the movie was basketball because I'm terrible at basketball."
Also unlike his character, off-screen Perry is single and has no children, certainly not teenagers.
"Matthew's probably used to dating girls Michelle's age," laughs Mann, referring to 23-year-old Trachtenberg.
"He checks their IDs," Trachtenberg says. "They're all over 18. But I called Matthew 'Dad' a lot."
"Not 'Dad,' " Perry deadpans, " 'Daddy.' "