Near-death experiences and a public brawl in LA's skid row—Zac Efron's post-High School
Musical career has been full of tragic details.
He may have risen to fame as a teen dreamboat in Hollywood, but Zac Efron's experience at
school was apparently an entirely different story.
According to a profile in The Mirror, Efron was unpopular at school; he had few friends
and was branded a nerd.
A former classmate divulged,
"Zac never knew how to handle the kids who teased him.
He wasn't bullied constantly, but for him it made going to class very difficult."
The outlet's sources remembered a kid who was mocked after failing to land a backflip
on the playground and teased for showing up to school with fresh highlights.
Efron admitted to self-loathing in an interview with Men's Journal, declaring,
"I step back and look at myself and I still want to kick that guy's ass sometimes."
Zac Efron has opened up about his struggles with mental illness.
In an interview with Men's Health, he revealed that he finds it difficult to be in crowds
and prefers to stay indoors.
"I just don't go out.
People in large groups, it triggers my agoraphobia."
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Efron also explained that he lives with anxiety
on a daily basis and is constantly overwhelmed by "thoughts, just thoughts, just overthinking
things."
In a chat with Bear Grylls, the actor said that his anxiety was exacerbated by constant
paparazzi intrusion into his life, which led to self-medicating.
In addition to his issues with agoraphobia and anxiety, Efron has discussed his ongoing
struggle with depression.
Accordingly, he admitted that he often used work as a distraction from his dark thoughts.
He told The Hollywood Reporter,
"There was something lacking, some sort of hole that I couldn't really fill up.
I was just so deep into my work, it was really the only thing I had.
I clung to it in a way that became a little bit destructive."
Zac Efron was super close with his grandparents.
He once told People that he'd rather go on a cute dance date with his grandma than go
clubbing.
And in 2017, he posted an adorable snap of his proud grandparents on Instagram, revealing
that they were super excited to watch his movie "Baywatch."
Sadly, Efron lost his grandmother just two years later.
In a heartbreaking post, he made his late grandma one final promise, writing
"Love you Grandma...
We'll take good care of Grandpa for you."
It's no secret that Zac Efron loves dogs.
Speaking with People, he gushed about his adoration for his canine pals, quipping that
he was more than happy to be upstaged by pups when sharing screen time with them.
For many years, Efron's pride and joy was his dog, Puppy.
Back in 2012, he posted on Twitter that he celebrated Christmas morning with the adorable
pooch.
In 2016, he sadly lost Puppy.
On Instagram, he paid tribute to his late sidekick.
"Through thick and thin you've always been my best friend.
I'll see you at the finish line, RIP Puppy Efron."
Two years later, he was able to bring home a new canine companion when he saved the life
of a dog, MACA, who was set to be euthanized, per People.
There are a number of celebs who have had a near-death experience.
But in Zac Efron's case, he has escaped death on more than one occasion.
In 2013, Efron shattered his jaw after slipping outside his house, an injury that almost killed
him.
He told Entertainment Tonight,
“No, it was funny, It sucks.
I almost died, but we're good."
The accident required Efron to have multiple stitches and his jaw wired shut.
This wouldn't be the actor's last brush with death.
The following year, he nearly died when his chute malfunctioned during his appearance
on "Running Wild with Bear Grylls," an experience he called "one of the worst things possible,"
per Men's Journal.
Three years later, when filming "The Greatest Showman," he was almost killed riding his
bike in London.
As he recalled on the Graham Norton show,
"I'm not one to ride a bike early in the morning in traffic so it turned out to be quite dangerous.
... Suddenly there was a double decker bus right in front of me."
He continued,
"I slammed on the brakes, went under the front tire and narrowly missed death."
Then, Efron had a terrifying near-death experience when filming a documentary in Papua New Guinea
in 2019.
As reported by The Sunday Telegraph, he contracted what was believed to be typhoid and fell seriously
ill before Christmas.
Subsequently, he made an urgent trip to Australia.
On Instagram, Efron confirmed that he became ill, but made a recovery.
2013 would prove a difficult year for the "High School Musical" alum.
Zac Efron went to rehab twice for substance misuse.
According to TMZ, he suffered a relapse while filming "Neighbors" and was finding it difficult
to turn up for work.
The outlet claimed that he began hanging with a new group of friends, who had introduced
him to cocaine.
Opening up to USA Today about his struggles with alcohol and drug misuse, Efron admitted
that there was once a time when he wasn't too dissimilar from his live-fast-and-die-young
"Neighbors" character, Teddy.
Subsequently, colleagues expressed concern that playing Teddy may have triggered Efron,
who was in the midst of recovery at the time.
In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, he elaborated on his personal turmoil.
"I was drinking a lot, way too much.
[…] You're in your 20s, single, going through life in Hollywood, you know?
Everything is thrown at you."
Moreover, his personal issues were exacerbated by his work.
In particular, Efron had difficulties filming "Neighbors" due to the non-stop partying after
filming, which exposed him to vice at every corner.
He began attending AA meetings and also saw a therapist to treat his issues.
He said,
"I think it's changed my life.
I'm much more comfortable in my own skin."
However, he also acknowledged that his substance misuse was "a never-ending struggle."
Per USA Today, Efron has been sober since 2014.
A long time supporter of cancer charities, Zac Efron appeared in a video for Stand Up
To Cancer in 2010.
Like so many others, the actor has a deeply personal connection to cancer.
A year before he starred in the charity video, his cousin, Emily Hobson, was diagnosed with
Ewing Sarcoma.
According to a 2018 study, Ewing Sarcoma is an extremely aggressive type of bone cancer
affecting children and adolescents.
Hobson underwent chemotherapy, but the treatments left her in financial difficulty.
Subsequently, a charity gala was held in her honor, with Efron making an appearance at
the event.
In 2012, Efron revealed on Twitter that it was Hobson, who was in remission from cancer
at the time, who helped him get started in the entertainment industry.
Tragically, she died just one year later, aged 28.
According to her obituary in Santa Clarita Magazine, she was a film student who devoted
her final years to running a support group for fellow cancer patients.
On Instagram, Efron paid tribute to his late cousin, revealing that he and Hobson shared
the same birthday.
He wrote,
"Happy birthday to my cousin and best friend, Emily, who passed away from cancer 2 years
ago – she was 28 like me.
We share the same birthday and this day is forever ours."
He ended the post by telling his followers that his only birthday wish was for them to
donate to Stand Up To Cancer.
It is, unfortunately, not uncommon for celebs to get into epic fights in public.
In Zac Efron's case, his public blowout was a source of immense humiliation.
The actor generated headlines when he got into a violent brawl with an unhoused man
on Los Angeles' Skid Row in 2014, per TMZ.
Efron reportedly threw a bottle out of his car window when he was approached by the man,
who accused him of smashing the bottle in his direction.
The man punched Efron in the mouth, with the actor declaring, quote, "It was the hardest
I've ever been hit in my life."
Police caught a glimpse of the fight, but did not file charges against either party
as it was determined to be "mutual combat."
The incident couldn't have occurred at a more inopportune moment for Efron, who was promoting
"Neighbors" at the time.
Accordingly, he found the publicized nature of the brawl deeply degrading, as he revealed
to The Hollywood Reporter.
"No matter who you are, you face challenges growing up.
... It's impossible to lead an honest and fulfilling life as a man and not make mistakes
and 'fess up to them when you need to.
But it's especially humiliating when they happen to be so public and so scrutinized."
Recalling that day, he claimed that he was out with a friend when the man pulled a knife
on them.
They began fighting, something that Efron called, quote, "the most terrifying moment
in my life."
In 2021, Zac Efron found himself at the center of gossip about his appearance when he appeared
in a video promoting Earth Day.
Fans began speculating whether Efron had undergone plastic surgery due to his seemingly augmented
jaw.
Then, in a 2022 Men's Health interview, Efron got real about his struggles with body image,
which were precipitated by the unrealistically ripped physique he had in "Baywatch."
The actor admitted he took diuretics in order to maintain his figure for the film.
Moreover, he was heavily restricting food, exercising excessively, and suffered from
severe insomnia as a result.
He admitted,
"Something about that experience burned me out.
I had a really hard time recentering.
Ultimately they chalked it up to taking way too many diuretics for way too long, and it
messed something up."
While he acknowledged that having an impossibly ripped physique was once his dream, it made
him miserable.
These days he seems to have a healthier relationship to dieting.
"The philosophy around my current diet is intermittent fasting mixed with getting enough
nutrition to sort of sustain me throughout the day."
This marked the first time Efron openly discussed his body image issues, but it definitely wasn't
the last.
In an episode of his Netflix series "Down to Earth," Efron was brought to tears when
eating pasta, noting that he'd deprived his body of carbs for years.
Later in the episode, he admitted,
"I gotta get out of Hollywood, dude.
I'm done."
He continued to say,
"It's just not a place conducive to living a long, happy, mentally sound life."
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text
Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI
(6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.