Zac Efron got his start in the musical theatre side of Hollywood, but across two decades of his career thus far, the actor has proven to have many more tricks up his sleeve than just High School Musical’s Troy Bolton. Heck, he was just part of the 2024’s Oscar season buzz for his role in The Iron Claw. Efron recently spoke to why his role in 2017’s The Greatest Showman brought him back to musicals at a time when he wasn’t “looking for” it.
Efron, of course, broke out in a huge way when he starred in the Disney Channel phenomenon High School Musical when he was 19. The movie would kick off a musical trilogy and lead the actor to also star in the Hairspray remake in the early ’00s. But it took the actor a decade before he would put his dancing shoes on for The Greatest Showman again. Here’s why, in his words:
Michael is such a visionary. I can admit that at the time that he came to me and sort of pitch this film to me, a musical was probably not the first thing I was looking for at the time. Then he sort of played me the music and talked me through his vision, and it was one of the most ambitious but also well thought out explanations of a story that I’ve ever experienced. This is kind of similar to working with Sean Durkin on The Iron Claw. It was very clear that Michael Gracey had this in his dreams, and he was going to bring to life a very vivid dream that meant something very special to him and was not one to compromise. So if you’re gonna make a musical you better make it damn good. And I felt like this was a chance to make it good.
As the actor shared, he was convinced to return to the genre by the movie’s director, Michael Gracey, who actually made his directorial debut with The Greatest Showman. Zac Efron became enraptured in Gracey’s passion for the musical and signed on, even to his own surprise. Efron went on to play a playwright named Phillip Carlyle, and he had the opportunity to work closely with Hugh Jackman and Zendaya, among the movie’s other cast members. Plus, The Greatest Showman was a huge hit, becoming one of the highest-grossing movie musicals ever, per The Wrap.
Efron spoke about The Greatest Showman while looking back at a few key movies from his career with Vanity Fair. Take a look:
Watch The Greatest Showman
The Greatest Showman is now streaming for those with a Disney+ subscription, and available to rent/buy on Amazon.
The actor’s comments come as his latest movie, A Family Affair, is the most streamed movie right now among those with a Netflix subscription. While at the film’s premiere, Efron told The Hollywood Reporter that he thinks “it’s just a matter of time” before he does another musical. A Family Affair, which pairs Efron with Nicole Kidman (who is also movie musically-inclined), does have a small moment that has Efron singing in the car, but when CinemaBlend spoke to the rom-com’s director, he told us Efron declined singing a musical number in the movie.
While Zac Efron certainly has the musical theatre chops, perhaps it comes down to the right song and moment to bring back his song and dance moves! You can check the actor out in A Family Affair on Netflix now.