It took just one TV movie to change young actor Zac Efron from a
supporting player to a bonafide teen star. Of course, that TV movie was
The Disney Channel’s tween pop cultural phenomenon, “High School
Musical” (2005), which elevated Efron to major league heartthrob status
for his eminently crushable turn as a high school jock who discovers
his hidden love for singing. Prior to “High School Musical,” the Arroyo
Grande, CA native had appeared in a string of supporting and minor
roles on television, most notably in the WB teen drama “Summerland”
(2004-05), which starred another reigning tween favorite, Jesse
McCartney.
Born
Oct. 18, 1987 in San Luis Obispo, CA, Efron made his TV debut only a
few years before “Summerland” and “High School Musical.” He’d developed
an interest in acting after his parents encouraged him to exercise his
innate singing talent through lessons and later local theater. After
culling an impressive list of stage roles – including a long-running
production of “Gypsy” – Efron took the next logical step and began
pursuing screen acting jobs. Guest shots on “Firefly” (Fox, 2002-04)
and “ER” (NBC, 1994- ), as well as the highly scripted “reality series”
“Room Raiders” (MTV, 2004- ) preceded his first substantial turn as the
autistic son of Mary-Louise Parker and Aidan Quinn in the 2003 Lifetime
TV-movie, “Miracle Run.” The performance earned Efron a Young Artist
Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
More television
followed, including several failed pilots, before Efron landed the role
of Cameron Bale on “Summerland.” Initially intended as a guest spot,
Efron’s casual charm and good looks endeared him to audiences, and he
joined the show’s cast as a regular until its cancellation in 2005.
That same year, Efron turned up as a featured player in teen pop singer
Hope Partlow’s video for “Sick Inside,” before landing the lead role in
a Disney Channel production that harkened back to such classic teen
musicals as “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Grease.”
That film, helmed and
choreographed by Kenny (“Dirty Dancing,” 1987) Ortega, turned out to be
“High School Musical,” which earned spectacular ratings for the Mickey
Mouse network and yielded a triple platinum-selling soundtrack album
and a sales record-breaking DVD. The soundtrack also made Efron the
first artist ever to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 charts with two
singles in the same week. He would eventually have five singles from
the soundtrack on the charts, though some of the glamour was blunted
when it was revealed that Efron’s vocals had been “sweetened” by
combining them with that of actor/singer Andrew Seeley.
The minor
controversy did little to dampen the groundswell of popularity building
behind Efron, which spread like wildfire when his appearances on the
popular Disney Channel TV series “The Suite Life of Zach and Cody”
(2005- ) and “NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service” (CBS, 2003- )
aired while “HSM” was screening almost around the clock for Disney. A
frantic April 2006 appearance with his “HSM” co-star Ashley Tisdale on
MTV’s “TRL” (1998- ) confirmed his runaway popularity with the tween
and teen audiences, and since then, Efron’s image has been inescapable
on and between the covers of magazines that cater to that demographic.
While
riding the “HSM” wave, Efron attempted to parlay his popularity into a
Fox TV series entitled “If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home By Now”
(2006), which was inspired by the Oakwood apartment complex in Los
Angeles which serves as a temporary home for countless aspiring teen
actors. The pilot was unfortunately not picked up for the 2006-07
season. But fans did not have to wait long for his next project.
In
2006, it was announced that Efron would be joining the cast of the
highly anticipated film version of the popular Broadway musical
“Hairspray” (2007). Much of the press was quick to point out that
Efron, who was playing the show’s heartthrob, Link Larkin, would be
doing all of his own singing (in an pre-emptive strike against any
lingering doubts of his abilities). Interestingly enough, Efron
seemingly balked on releasing a pop album, unlike his “HSM” co-stars
Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, and Corbin Bleu, all of whom
inked contracts with major labels for their own CDs.
Also Credited As:
Zachary David Alexander Efron
Born:
Zachary David Alexander Efron on October 18, 1987 in San Luis Obispo, California, United States
Job Titles:
Actor, Singer
Family
Brother: Dylan Efron.
Father: David Efron.
Mother: Starla Baskett. Once worked at the same power plant as Efron s father
Significant Others
Companion: Vanessa Hudgens. Met while co-starring on the Disney channel s High School Musical
Milestones
2002 Made TV debut on an episode of “Firefly” (FOX)
2003 Played one of two autistic twins in the Lifetime original movie “Miracle Run”
2004 Joined the cast of the WB series “Summerland” as Cameron Bale
2006 Cast as Troy Bolton in the Disney Channel original movie “High School Musical”
2007 Cast as Link Larkin in a film version of “Hairspray,” starring Amanda Bynes, Queen Latifah and John Travolta
2007 Reprised his role for the Disney Channel movie “High School Musical 2”
2008 Appeared in third and final Disney Channel movie “High School Musical 3: Senior Year”
2009 First solo lead role in a feature, the high school-set comedy, 17 Again
Began acting in his high school theater productions