Zac Efron says he was driven to theatre because he was an outsider
The Hollywood hunk has made his return to musicals with The Greatest Showman
By Steve Brown
Zac Efron said he was driven to theatre because he was an “outsider”.
The Hollywood hunk has been wooing both men and women on screen since he shot to fame in the High School Musical franchise and it seems he just gets sexier every day.
But, despite having a perfect body and stunning good looks, the actor admitted he felt like an outsider when he was growing up.
He said: “One hundred per cent. Feeling like an outsider is one of the things that drove me to theatre.
“I started to enjoy it. All those things you look back on as negatives when you were young are what made you strong.
“You learn a lesson that puts you where you are today. I wouldn’t be here today if I had never felt like an outcast.”
Since his High School Musical days, Efron has gone to star in comedies, dramas and more musicals including Hairspray and most recently The Greatest Showman.
And in the new Michael Gracey movie about P.T. Barnum, Efron sings a duet with Zendaya and admitted he wouldn’t have been able to “relate to the story” if he’d never felt like an outcast.
“I wouldn’t be able to relate to the story, and I wouldn’t be so passionate about Rewrite the Stars,” he added.
“I wouldn’t have known what that meant if I hadn’t been an outcast. I am proud to be that.”
The actor – who isn’t shy to take off his top as seen in Baywatch – found that he was “nervous” to return to musicals, the genre which kick-started his career, but he said he was excited to be back.
He said: “I was nervous about whether I would still have the skill set at first, but that was such a fleeting thought.
“I was really just excited to be back because I always wondered when and how I’d be able to get back to musicals, if it was going to be a Broadway show when I was 40 years old.
“I didn’t know. I always saw it in my future but I didn’t know how. I never dreamed it would be something of this magnitude with Hugh Jackman and Zen and such a great song and story.”
The Greatest Showman is available to own via Digital Download on April 27 and on Blu-ray and DVD on May 14.