Zac Efron shows off his biceps to photographer Ruven Afanador for the latest issue of Flaunt magazine.
Here is what Zac had to share with Flaunt.
On High School Musical
But here’s the one thing about High School Musical, that a lot of people forget or don’t realize. It affected a lot of people, its resonance, culturally, was massive … and at the same time, it was in every sense of it, the luckiest break in the world. The wrong thing to do—and that’s what all these interviews now are trying to get me to say— is to turn on it, to like sh– on it, call it crap. But that’s insane. There are hundreds of people who began doing one thing when they were younger, who go on to develop and refine and shape their vision, as they get older, and other concerns—like fame, or money, take a back seat to other ones.
On not complaining about his life
The b—hiness doesn’t do anything. It just puts you out there and it makes you look unappreciative to your fans. If I’m talking to my friends, or somebody important who can have some influence on or affect the situation, that’s one thing, but to b—h about attention while getting attention? I’d be doing it to the very people whose job it is to get that information—who are watching me and have control over that information. Therefore, it makes them upset, they read it like it’s hypocritical, and so they spread some bullsh–. You should hear the chatroom sh– that gets said every time you try to complain. So that’s why I’m not going to complain. I will do a lot of things in my life differently to make sure it’s not known or tweeted about or photographed. But it’s a complete day-to-day situation. I mean, I wish I could sit here and be completely honest—but I guess that’s an even bigger responsibility—and it’d take a more courageous man.
On making good movies for the studios
It’s really tough. I feel like I’m in the trenches with them. It’s really hard because I respect these people so much. And they are some of the smartest people I’ve ever met. And they struggle more than I can even comprehend with the problem at hand—the dichotomy—the challenge of making good movies and making movies that people want to watch. And right now, being me, I personally know which ones I want to be in. I feel like the other way. S–t, I feel like I can be effective in one.
