Zachary David Alexander Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. 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 (2006–2008). During this time, he also starred in the musical film Hairspray (2007) and the comedy film 17 Again (2009), the former of which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. Efron had starring roles in the films New Year's Eve (2011), The Lucky One (2012), The Paperboy (2012), Neighbors (2014), Dirty Grandpa (2016), Baywatch (2017), and The Greatest Showman (2017). He played Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) and Kevin Von Erich in The Iron Claw (2023). In 2021, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for hosting the Netflix travel show Down to Earth with Zac Efron (2020–2022).

Filmography

• 2026Boundless: The Man Who Became Human — Executive Producer
• The Studio — Zac Efron
• 2024A Family Affair — Chris Cole
• 2024Ricky Stanicky — Dean
• 2023The Iron Claw — Kevin Von Erich
• 2022Firestarter — Andy McGee
• 2022Gold — Virgil
• 2022The Greatest Beer Run Ever — John 'Chickie' Donohue
• Down to Earth with Zac Efron — Self, Executive Producer
• 2020Scoob! — Fred Jones (voice)
• 2020The Great Global Cleanup — Self, Executive Producer
• 2019Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile — Ted Bundy, Executive Producer
• Human Discoveries — Gary (voice), Executive Producer
• 2019The Beach Bum — Flicker
• 2017Baywatch — Matt Brody
• 2017The Disaster Artist — Dan / 'Chris-R'
• 2017The Greatest Showman — Phillip Carlyle
• 2016Dirty Grandpa — Jason Kelly
• 2016Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates — Dave Stangle
• 2016Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising — Teddy Sanders
• 2015We Are Your Friends — Cole
• HitRECord on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt
• 2014Neighbors — Teddy Sanders
• 2014Robot Chicken DC Comics Special II: Villains in Paradise — Superboy / Brainiac (voice)
• 2014That Awkward Moment — Jason, Executive Producer
• 2013Parkland — Jim Carrico
• 2012At Any Price — Dean Whipple
• 2012Liberal Arts — Nat
• 2012The Lorax — Ted Wiggins (voice)
• 2012The Lucky One — Logan Thibault
• 2012The Paperboy — Jack Jansen
• 2011New Year's Eve — Paul
• 2010Charlie St. Cloud — Charlie St. Cloud
• 2010Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III — Anakin Skywalker (voice)
• 200917 Again — Mike O'Donnell
• 2008High School Musical 3: Senior Year — Troy Bolton
• 2008Me and Orson Welles — Richard Samuels
• 2007Hairspray — Link Larkin
• 2007High School Musical 2 — Troy Bolton
• Heist — Pizza Delivery Guy
• 2006High School Musical — Troy Bolton
• 2006High School Musical: Remix — Troy Bolton
• The Replacements — Davey Hunkerhoff
• Robot Chicken — Billy Joel, Mechanic (voice), Harry Potter, Horrg, Bowling Pin (voice), Anakin Skywalker, Red Power Ranger, God (voice)
• 2005The Derby Stallion — Patrick McCardle
• The Suite Life of Zack & Cody — Trevor
• Entourage — Zac Efron
• 2004Miracle Run — Steven Morgan
• Summerland — Cameron Bale
• NCIS — Daniel Austin
• CSI: Miami — Seth Dawson
• Firefly — Young Simon
• The Guardian — Luke Tomello
• ER — Bobby Neville
• Famous — Lance Dunkquist / James Jansen
• Judgment Day
• Killing Zac Efron — Executive Producer
• Night Business — Johnny Timothy
• Three Men and a Baby

Appearances as themselves (26)

• 2020Dude Perfect: Backstage Pass — Himself
• 2020The Disney Family Singalong — Self
• The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self
• Hot Ones — Self
• The Late Late Show with James Corden — Self
• 201421 Years: Richard Linklater — Self - Actor
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self
• Running Wild with Bear Grylls — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Self
• Catfish: The TV Show — Self
• Conan — Self
• 2009Zac Efron's Pool Party — Self
• 2008High School Musical 3: Making of a Musical — Self
• The Graham Norton Show — Self
• 2007You Can’t Stop the Beat: The Long Journey of "Hairspray" — Self
• Disney Channel Games — Self
• El hormiguero — Self - Guest
• 2006High School Musical Dance-Along — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self - Guest
• Punk'd — Self
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show — Self
• The View — Self
• MTV Movie & TV Awards — Self - Presenter
• Entertainment Tonight — Self
• People's Choice Awards — Self - Presenter
• Saturday Night Live — Self - Host