In the years since High School Musical, Zac Efron, like the rest of the human race, has been steadily aging right before our very eyes.
The actor is now 34 years old, which is a tough thing to wrap your head around if you were once part of the millions of fans singing and dancing to High School Musical’s soundtrack. (Let’s be honest, you probably were; at the very least you hummed it.)
However, in April 2021, the conversation around Zac Efron changed from that of doting admiration to one of confusion and concern. We’re of course talking about the viral clip of Efron that had the entire internet up in arms, arguing about whether or not the former teen heartthrob known for the twinkle in his eye underwent a botched plastic surgery that completely altered his face.
What happened to Zac Efron’s face?
Efron was promoting a science-related musical for Bill Nye the Science Guy (yes, we said musical) in an effort to start a conversation about the world’s climate change problem, but on Earth Day 2021 all anyone could talk about was Zac Efron’s face.
The consensus among the internet was that Efron had undergone a botched plastic surgery. Fans, media outlets, and even doctors shared their opinions on the situation, calling Efron’s face “puffy” and “swollen”. Many pointed to his lips and chin as the most drastic differences, naming “fillers” as the potential culprit. Others speculated whether a botched dental procedure was the cause.
Efrons Instagram account quickly became a nesting ground for curious fans looking to pinpoint the exact moment the actors face changed from teenage heartthrob to chisel-jawed grown man. Unfortunately, the investigation proved fruitless. The closer people looked, the less they found.
In the years leading up to the viral moment, Efron’s physical features had already been in the process of changing. The actor famously got shredded for his role in the 2017 movie Baywatch alongside Dwayne Johnson. At that point, people had already started to notice subtle changes in his physical appearance, likely a result of heavy weightlifting.
After the internet blew up with speculations about his “new” face, he continued to appear on camera in one clip or another, all the while never addressing the topic on everybody’s tongue. Over time it became clear that his face was not as “puffy” or “swollen” as it originally appeared in the viral video. In fact, what started out as a witch hunt to discover what happened slowly morphed into acceptance for what might’ve been the culprit all along: that pesky little thing called time.
In promoting his 2022 film Firestarter, the actor appeared in several talk shows including Ellen Degeneres and Jimmy Kimmel Live. It’s clear from those interviews that the teen heartthrob with the baby face is long gone, replaced by a grown man with a passion for Mother Earth, making movies, and staying physically fit. What’s not clear, and never has been, is whether there was anything wrong with his face to begin with.
Zac Efron’s upcoming works include an Apple TV Plus movie called The Greatest Beer Run Ever and the Disney Plus’ remake of Three Men and a Baby. Season two of his Emmy Award-winning web series Down to Earth, which saw serious delays due to COVID-19, is finally expected to premiere this year.