Given that it's only July and this weekend brings us the third Zac Efron movie of the year (Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates), perhaps it's time for a Posterized for America's favorite twinkly-eyed twentysomething heartthrob?
Though people are touchy lately about acknowledgement of star beauty, some stars more than obviously lean into it. Efron clearly understands where his plentiful bread has been buttered, regularly getting his shirt off sometimes even as setpiece plot points (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising). And he's increasingly becoming a living example of unrealistic body expectations. If women can feel bad about their bodies via supermodel objectification, so can men via superheroes...or actors with superhero bodies! Low self-esteem for everyone, hooray!
Happily though, Efron is also talented. He's proved to be a deft comic performer and there's still the possibility of more musicals in his future (he's been offered a role in Hugh Jackman's P.T. Barnum musical) so the immediate future looks bright.
How many of his 18 films have you seen? The posters after the jump...
The Star Launch (2005-2010)
High School Musical led to two feature musicals (High School Musical 3 and Hairspray) and quick above the title placement as well as his first attempts at carrying a feature alone (Charlie St Cloud)
Ensemble Work + A Bit of Range-Testing (2011-2015)
His star continues to rise (with wildly disparate box office results) and he finds his natural home: comedy
The Now (2016)
R-rated comedies only, please!
Anyone too old for the Disney channel which made Zac Efron a minor celebrity via High School Musical telefilms was probably slow to come around. But as Efron found his footing in comedy, the world came around. While evidence suggests that he's only dependably bankable when paired with other headliners, that's not nothing. The question now is what next? He's been savvy about his career thus far dropping into ensembles as breaks from film carrying duties, and capitalizing on his good sporstmanship in comedy.
Five of his past six movies have been broad comedies (two more coming with The Masterpiece with James Franco and Baywatch with The Rock up next) so if he plays it like most stars do, he'll try to branch out into additional genres, soon. When will he get the drama itch? He's perfect for a Tyrone Power biopic as previously noted but Hollywood probably doesn't have interest in making one of those.
I woke up like this @jimmykimmel #dirtygrandpa pic.twitter.com/VyZ412ELPO
— Zac Efron (@ZacEfron) January 22, 2016
🔴⚪️🔵 #teamnosleep pic.twitter.com/8wrkpV9Qsf
— Zac Efron (@ZacEfron) July 5, 2016
Do you think his star will continue to shine or quickly wane? Have your feelings about him changed these past few years?