For the first time, actor Zac Efron has decided to speak about the viral photo that sparked wild speculations that he underwent plastic surgery on his face.
In April 2021, Zac Efron made a brief yet memorable appearance on Bill Nye‘s Earth Day! The Musical video.
Fans of the star were surprised and concerned by how much his face had changed. Indeed, it was hard not to notice that Efron’s jawline was very different.
A few believed that he had either gained or lost weight. However, most speculated that he went under the knife for a new face.
While Efron is a massive star, he rarely conducts interviews and has little social media presence. However, his friend, Kyle Sandilands, did step out to deny the rumors that Efron had work done.
Sandiland stated: “It’s like getting a Picasso and having a kid finger paint all over it. Why bother? … I would know if he’d had any plastic surgery.”
However, for a year and a half, the chatter around his looks kept spreading, with multiple plastic surgeons weighing in.
One expert even claimed that the actor had a botched facelift which is why his jaws looked slightly out of place.
This week, Zac Efron did an interview where he finally addressed the reports that his face transformation was due to cosmetic surgery.
Appearing in Men’s Health‘s October 2022 cover story, Efron explained that while goofing around his home in socks, he fell and hit his head and face on the corner of a fountain.
Efron said the brutal fall left him unconscious, and when he woke up, he discovered that he shattered his jaw while running in his house with socks on.
Efron, 34, revealed his “chin bone … was hanging off” his face.
The High School Musical star stated that during the complex recovery process, his facial muscles got “really, really big,” so to compensate for the injury, “he worked with a physical therapist to counteract their growth.”
Efron also shared that his masseter muscles (masseter is one of the muscles of mastication) got “really, really big” in 2021 when he paused physical therapy.
Efron confirmed that he avoided social media and confessed that his mother, Starla Baskett, was the one who told him about the drama and the fake plastic surgery headlines.
The 17 Again star told the publication: “If I valued what other people thought of me to the extent that they may think I do, I definitely wouldn’t be able to do this work.”
The Hairspray and Baywatch actor also opened up about his struggles with insomnia, depression, and agoraphobia. Efron shared: “I just don’t go out…people in large groups are triggers for my anxiety disorder.”
It will be interesting to see if the interview will change perceptions.
