Early life
Efron was born in
San Luis Obispo,
California and later moved to
Arroyo Grande. His father, David Efron, is an
engineer at a power plant, and his mother, Starla Baskett, is a former
secretary who worked at the same
power plant as Efron's father.
[4][5] Efron had a self-described "normal childhood" in a
middle class family,
[1] and has a younger brother, Dylan. He has said that he would "flip out" if he got a 'B' and not an 'A' in school, and that he was a "class clown."
[6] Efron's father encouraged him to begin acting when Efron was eleven;
[4] he subsequently appeared in theater productions at his high school,
[7] worked in a theater called the Melodrama,
[1] began taking singing lessons,
[4] performed in plays such as
Gypsy,
Peter Pan,
Little Shop of Horrors,
The Music Man and
Mame, appearing at the
Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts.
[8] Efron was recommended to an agent in Los Angeles by his drama teacher, Robyn Metchik (the mother of actors
Aaron Michael Metchik and Asher Metchik).
[8][9]Efron has two dogs,
Australian shepherds named Dreamer and Puppy.
[10]Early work & High School Musical
In 2002, Efron began to appear in guest roles on several television series, including
Firefly,
ER, and
The Guardian. He portrayed Cameron Bale on the now-cancelled
WB series
Summerland. Originally introduced as a recurring character, Efron became a regular cast member on the show in the second season in 2004, starring opposite the likes of
Kay Panabaker and
Lori Loughlin. Since appearing in Summerland, he has also had guest roles on the shows
CSI: Miami,
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service,
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and
The Replacements. In 2003, Efron starred in the
Lifetime original television movie
Miracle Run. He played Steven Morgan, one of two
autistic twins. For his performance, he was nominated for a
Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-series or Special - Supporting Young Actor.
[11] In 2005, he played a main character in
Hope Partlow's music video for her song "Sick Inside." Also in 2005, he played horse-loving Patrick McCardle in
The Derby Stallion, where his character wants to beat the town
bully at the steeple chase race.
In 2006, Efron starred in the
Disney Channel original movie
High School Musical as Troy Bolton, alongside actresses
Vanessa Anne Hudgens,
Ashley Tisdale and
Monique Coleman (who, like Efron, have all appeared on the series
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody), as well as actors
Lucas Grabeel and
Corbin Bleu. The film, which he initially made with "low expectations",
[1] helped Efron gain recognition among teenage audiences as both an actor and a singer. As a result, he placed as high as #4 on the
IMDBPro's STARMeter for the week of
January 29,
2006.
[12] In August 2006, Efron won a
Teen Choice Award in the Breakout Star and the TV - Choice Chemistry categories, shared with Hudgens. The film's cast, along with Efron, toured
Sydney, Australia,
London, England, and other locations to promote the film, although Efron did not participate in the High School Musical Concert that toured the U.S. and Canada throughout the fall and winter 2006.
Shortly after High School Musical aired, Efron debuted with two simultaneous charted songs on
February 4,
2006,
Billboard Hot 100, with "
Get'cha Head in the Game" and "
Breaking Free," a duet with
Vanessa Anne Hudgens from
High School Musical. On the following week's chart, Efron had five simultaneous song credits, all from High School Musical, including, once more, "Get'cha Head in the Game," "
Start of Something New," "
What I've Been Looking For: Reprise," "
We're All in This Together" (which was credited to the whole High School Musical cast) and "Breaking Free." "Breaking Free," at the time, made the fastest climb in the history of the Billboard charts, from #86 to #4 between the two weeks; the record has since been beaten by
Eminem and
Akon's "
Smack That."
[13] Efron also appeared in the 2006
Disney Channel Games as captain of the Red Team.
Efron's singing talents were disputed when it was revealed that
Andrew Seeley's voice was blended with his on the
soundtrack of High School Musical.
[14]2007-present
On
April 7,
2007, Efron appeared in an episode of
Punk'd with High School Musical co-star
Ashley Tisdale. He was set up by two guys pretending to steal a box at a local store (they were really taking it to the "manager's" house) and finding out that the "security guard" (who left the store at the time to eat a
hot dog) never saw the whole thing. The "manager" questions both stars, but does not believe Efron when he describes what happened. Around the same time, Efron also starred in the music video for
Vanessa Hudgens's single '
Say OK', where he played her love interest. The video aired on
16 March 2007 on Disney Channel. That year, he was named one of
People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in 2007. A picture and short profile of him was in the section "Coming of Age," along with pop singer/actress
Hilary Duff, actress
Hayden Panettiere and R&B singer
Chris Brown. In it, he related how he was always the shortest kid in school (he is now 5'8")
[5] and was teased for the "huge gap" in his teeth.
[15]In 2006, Efron was cast as Link Larkin in a film version of
Hairspray, also starring
Amanda Bynes,
Queen Latifah, and
John Travolta and released on
July 20,
2007. Efron performed all of his own vocals in the role,
[3] which was filmed in
Toronto,
Ontario from
September 5 to
December 2,
2006. He cut and dyed his hair dark brown and gained about 15 lbs. for the role.
[16] Both Efron's performance and the film have received positive reviews.
[8]Efron's upcoming roles also include the made-for-television
High School Musical 2, which completed filming on in April of 2007 and is scheduled to air on
Disney Channel on
August 17,
2007. Furthermore, Efron has been cast in Seventeen, a high school-set drama/comedy produced by
Adam Shankman and based on a pitch by Jason Filardi;
[17] the plot involves an adult who is transformed into a 17-year old (to be played by Efron).
[18] Efron is also scheduled to star in Paramount's musical remake of the film
Footloose;
[19] he has said that he would like to add his "own little bit of flair" to the role originated by
Kevin Bacon.
[5]
