How Old Was Zac Efron In 'High School Musical'?
Zac Efron gained worldwide popularity when he famously played Troy Bolton, a teenage basketball player, in Disney’s musical film ‘High School Musical’ in 2006. This leads to the question: How old was Zac Efron in High School Musical?
Zac Efron was only 19 years old when he played Troy Bolton in the first High School Musical movie. But Efron wasn’t the only teenage actor in the Disney musical film, as his co-stars Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale were similarly young when they starred in the hit movie and its two successors.
Read more about how old Zac Efron was when he starred in the High School Musical trilogy and how he was able to build a successful acting career for himself off the back of his fame as Troy Bolton.
19 years young
Zac Efron, who was born as Zachary David Alexander Efron on October 18th, 1987, started acting when he took part in his high school’s theater productions.
In the early 2000s, the Californian teen actor managed to score guest roles in films such as ‘Mainland’ and TV series such as ‘Summerland.’
Efron’s decisive breakthrough in his acting career came when he got the role of teen basketball player Troy Bolton in the Disney musical movie ‘High School Musical’, which was came out in 2006.
This means that Efron was only 19 years old when the movie was released, and since filming for the movie is said to have begun in early 2005, Efron was 18 when he started working on the movie.
‘High School Musical’ saw him play Troy Bolton, a basketball player who falls in love with Gabriella Montez (played by Vanessa Hudgens) and subsequently fells conflicted when he finds himself wanting to participate in the school’s musical with her.
While Efron was only 19 at the time when ‘High School Musical’ was released, his co-stars Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens were equally young.
Ashley Tisdale was 21 in ‘High School Musical’, and his on-screen, and later on real-life girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens was only 18 when she played in the movie.
Success after ‘High School Musical’
When ‘High School Musical’ debuted in 2006 it became an instant success and produced huge movie ratings, a best-selling soundtrack and an army of loyal fans.
Following his standout appearance in ‘High School Musical’, Zac Efron and his co-stars appeared in the 2007 follow-up ‘High School Musical 2’ , when Efron was 20 years old.
Off the back of his famed performance of Troy Bolton, Efron then attempted to shed to his image as a teenage musical star.
In 2007 he appeared in the movie ‘Hairspray’, where he starred alongside Hollywood heavyweights John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer.
When he turned 21, Efron and co-stars reunited a last time when they appeared in ‘High School Musical 3’, the final installment of the Disney trilogy.
While the second movie followed the summer vacation of Troy Bolton and his friends, the third movie thematized their senior year at high school and their departure to college.
The movie, which was released in theatres, became a major blockbuster and solidified the then only 21-year old Efron’s success as an actor.
And after the end of the ‘High School Musical’ franchise, Efron further established himself in Hollywood. In the following years he starred, for example, in the movie ‘17 Again’ in 2009 and a remake of ‘Baywatch’ in 2017.
This shows that while Efron’s success as Troy Bolton came when he was only 19 years old, the Californian actor was able to steadily grow his career alongside his own age. And now, as a grown-up, Efron has fully build an acting career for himself off his initial success as the teenage basketball player.
This only leaves us to wonder what will be next for Zac Efron.
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