Zac Efron

Zachary David Alexander Efron, born October 18, 1987, in San Luis Obispo, California, and raised in Arroyo Grande, California, is an American actor who achieved global superstardom through his teenage role as Troy Bolton in the massively successful Disney Channel franchise High School Musical (2006, 2007, 2008), and who has since executed one of the more thoughtful and successful transitions from teen idol to dramatic leading man in the history of Hollywood child-stardom-to-adult-career trajectories. Growing up in Arroyo Grande in a family where his father David was a power plant operator and his mother Starla a secretary, he began performing in school musical productions at age eleven, demonstrating immediately that he had genuine musical theater gifts — singing, dancing, and acting simultaneously with the ease of a natural triple-threat. His High School Musical debut at eighteen made him arguably the most famous teenager in America and brought a franchise that generated over 100 million viewers and nearly a billion dollars in merchandise. Rather than allow himself to be typecast, he systematically chose adult projects that challenged audience perceptions: 17 Again (2009), Hairspray (2007, his first major theatrical film role, playing opposite John Travolta and Queen Latifah in the landmark musical), Charlie St. Cloud (2010), The Lorax (2012, voice), Neighbors (2014, his breakout as an adult comedic leading man alongside Seth Rogen), Neighbors 2 (2016), Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), Baywatch (2017, alongside Dwayne Johnson), Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019, a stunning dramatic turn as convicted serial killer Ted Bundy that earned widespread critical reassessment of his dramatic abilities), The Greatest Showman (2017, opposite Hugh Jackman), Efron Goes to Gold? wait — Iron Man (wait), No, The Greatest Showman (2017), Firestarter (2022), The Iron Claw (2023) as Kevin Von Erich in one of his strongest dramatic performances, and A Family Affair (2024, Netflix).