Zac Efron
Biography
Zachary David Alexander Efron is an American actor and singer born on October 18, 1987, in San Luis Obispo, California. He is the son of Starla Baskett, a secretary, and David Efron, an electrical engineer, and has a younger brother named Dylan. Professionally known as Zac Efron, he began his acting career in the early 2000s. Over the course of his professional life, he has established himself as a prominent figure in the entertainment industry, gaining recognition for his work in both film and television. Efron is widely identified for his early rise to fame as a teen idol and has maintained a consistent presence in major motion pictures throughout his career.
Career overview
Zac Efron began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence as a teen idol for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the High School Musical trilogy, which spanned from 2006 to 2008. During this period of his career, he also appeared in the 2005 film The Derby Stallion as Patrick McCardle and the 2005 music video for Hope Partlow's Sick Inside. His work in the musical film Hairspray in 2007 earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, while his performance in a television movie previously resulted in a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-series or Special for a Supporting Young Actor.
Following his breakout success, Efron starred in a variety of film projects across multiple genres. His filmography includes the comedy 17 Again in 2009, as well as roles in New Year's Eve in 2011, The Lucky One in 2012, and The Paperboy in 2012. He also provided voice work for The Lorax. In later years, he appeared in Neighbors in 2014, Dirty Grandpa in 2016, Baywatch in 2017, and The Greatest Showman in 2017. In 2019, he portrayed Ted Bundy in the film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Throughout his career, Efron has demonstrated his versatility as an actor, singer, and dancer in numerous television and film productions.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special (2026) as Self (archive footage)
- The Studio (2025) as Zac Efron
- Ricky Stanicky (2024) as Dean
- A Family Affair (2024) as Chris Cole
- NCISverse: The First 1,000 (2024) as Self
- The Iron Claw (2023) as Kevin Von Erich
- Gold (2022) as Virgil
- The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022) as John 'Chickie' Donohue
- Firestarter (2022) as Andy McGee
- Scoob! (2020) as Fred Jones (voice)
- Down to Earth with Zac Efron (2020) as Self
- Down to Earth with Zac Efron (2020) Executive Producer
- The Disney Family Singalong (2020) as Self
- Dude Perfect: Backstage Pass (2020) as Himself
- The Great Global Cleanup (2020) as Self
- The Great Global Cleanup (2020) Executive Producer
- The Kelly Clarkson Show (2019) as Self
- Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) as Ted Bundy
- Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) Executive Producer
- The Beach Bum (2019) as Flicker
- Human Discoveries (2019) as Gary (voice)
- Human Discoveries (2019) Executive Producer
- Baywatch (2017) as Matt Brody
- The Greatest Showman (2017) as Phillip Carlyle
- The Disaster Artist (2017) as Dan / 'Chris-R'
- Dirty Grandpa (2016) as Jason Kelly
- Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) as Teddy Sanders
- Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016) as Dave Stangle
- High School Musical: 10th Anniversary (2016) as (uncredited)
- The Late Late Show with James Corden (2015) as Self
- Hot Ones (2015) as Self
- We Are Your Friends (2015) as Cole
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014) as Self
- Late Night with Seth Meyers (2014) as Self
- Running Wild with Bear Grylls (2014) as Self
- Neighbors (2014) as Teddy Sanders
- HitRECord on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (2014)
- That Awkward Moment (2014) as Jason
- That Awkward Moment (2014) Executive Producer
- 21 Years: Richard Linklater (2014) as Self - Actor
- Robot Chicken DC Comics Special II: Villains in Paradise (2014) as Superboy / Brainiac (voice)
- Parkland (2013) as Jim Carrico
- Catfish: The TV Show (2012) as Self
- The Lorax (2012) as Ted Wiggins (voice)
- The Lucky One (2012) as Logan Thibault
- The Paperboy (2012) as Jack Jansen
- Liberal Arts (2012) as Nat
- At Any Price (2012) as Dean Whipple
- New Year's Eve (2011) as Paul
- Conan (2010) as Self
- Charlie St. Cloud (2010) as Charlie St. Cloud
- Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III (2010) as Anakin Skywalker (voice)
- 17 Again (2009) as Mike O'Donnell
- Zac Efron's Pool Party (2009) as Self
- 17 Again: Zac Goes Back (2009) as Self
- 17 Again: Zac's Dance Flashback (2009) as Self
- 17 Agan: Going Back to 17 (2009) as Self
- Zac Efron: The Ultimate Idol (2009) as Self (Archived Footage)
- High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) as Troy Bolton
- Me and Orson Welles (2008) as Richard Samuels
- High School Musical 3: Making of a Musical (2008) as Self
- The Graham Norton Show (2007) as Self
- Hairspray (2007) as Link Larkin
- High School Musical 2 (2007) as Troy Bolton
- 'Hairspray' Extentions (2007) as Self
- It's 'Hairspray'! (2007) as Self
- Hairspray: Inside the Recording Booth (2007) as Self
- You Can’t Stop the Beat: The Long Journey of "Hairspray" (2007) as Self
- El hormiguero (2006) as Self - Guest
- The Replacements (2006) as Davey Hunkerhoff
- Disney Channel Games (2006) as Self
- High School Musical (2006) as Troy Bolton
- Heist (2006) as Pizza Delivery Guy
- High School Musical Dance-Along (2006) as Self
- High School Musical: Remix (2006) as Troy Bolton
- If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now (2006) as Cody
- Robot Chicken (2005) as Harry Potter, Horrg, Bowling Pin (voice)
- Robot Chicken (2005) as Billy Joel, Mechanic (voice)
- Robot Chicken (2005) as Anakin Skywalker, Red Power Ranger, God (voice)
- The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005) as Trevor
- The Derby Stallion (2005) as Patrick McCardle
- Entourage (2004) as Zac Efron
- Summerland (2004) as Cameron Bale
- Miracle Run (2004) as Steven Morgan
- NCIS (2003) as Daniel Austin
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003) as Self - Guest
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003) as Self
- Punk'd (2003) as Self
- The Big Wide World of Carl Laemke (2003) as Pete Laemke
- Melinda's World (2003) as Stuart Wasser
- CSI: Miami (2002) as Seth Dawson
- Firefly (2002) as Young Simon
- The Guardian (2001) as Luke Tomello
- The View (1997) as Self
- ER (1994) as Bobby Neville
- MTV Movie & TV Awards (1992) as Self - Presenter
- Entertainment Tonight (1981) as Self
- Saturday Night Live (1975) as Self - Host
- People's Choice Awards (1975) as Self - Presenter
- Night Business as Johnny Timothy
- Famous as Lance Dunkquist / James Jansen
- Judgment Day
- Three Men and a Baby
- Killing Zac Efron
- Killing Zac Efron Executive Producer