Zac Efron has a new exclusive in Men’s Health. He’s promoting an interesting new project, The Greatest Beer Run Ever. While it sounds like another meathead comedy, it actually has some depth to it as the beer run is to his buddies who are fighting in Vietnam. I am the resident Zac apologist. I just like him. I worry about him, because I think he’s a bit lost and doesn’t surround himself with the right people, but I’m always pulling for him. When I watched his Down to Earth with Zac Efron series, which I enjoyed far more than I expected, it felt like Zac had found a path that was bringing him peace. But what everyone else took from it, apparently, was that Zac had ‘let himself go’ and was sporting a Dad Bod. Nothing against proud Dad Bodders, but Zac had no such thing. People just couldn’t handle an uncut Zac. Then he was filmed with a decidedly bulkier jaw and speculation as to why went amok. Most fingers pointed to plastic surgery. According to Zac, it was from a broken jaw and not elective jaw work.
About four years ago, in the span of a year and a half, he tore his ACL, dislocated his shoulder, broke his wrist, and threw out his back. He also shattered his jaw, he says, though that was not a training injury. He’d been running through his house in socks and slipped, smacking his chin against the granite corner of a fountain. He lost consciousness, and when he woke up, he recalls, his chin bone was hanging off his face.
When I ask him about this, he tells me that the masseter muscles, used for chewing, work together with the other muscles of the face “like a symphony”; when he was injured, the muscles on the inside of his face and jaw had to compensate. He works with a specialist and does physical therapy to mediate this, he says, but in Australia he took some time off from that, too. “The masseters just grew,” he says, shrugging. “They just got really, really big.”
Efron says he didn’t know about Jaw-gate until his mother called to ask if he’d gotten plastic surgery, because, though he appreciates that social media can be useful for promoting projects he cares about, he generally avoids it. This is a survival tactic, one that he has been honing since he became a public figure at 17. “If I valued what other people thought of me to the extent that they may think I do,” he says, “I definitely wouldn’t be able to do this work.”
[From Mens Health via DListed]
As the current photos show, and the interviewer notes, whatever the reason for Zac’s fuller jaw is gone. I know nothing about jaw muscles and whether they grow. I imagine a busted jaw would reshape a jaw, possibly temporarily. Honestly, I’m more suspect of how he broke his jaw, if he did. I’m a massive klutz. I’m typing this with a finger I broke trying to catch a falling plastic jug. I have never come close to rendering myself unconscious running in socks – and I’ve slipped in socks plenty. Granted I don’t have a granite fountain inside my house, but it all still sounds, well, dramatic. I hope old habits haven’t returned to haunt him. He looks much healthier now and he sounds good. I hope he has people in his life who are invested in him continuing that.
Because it’s Men’s Health, there is a lot of discussion about Zac’s body. Even the article points out its all anyone talks about to the point of over-scrutiny. There’s a pull quote going around from Zac about his Baywatch body. He said, “That Baywatch look, I don’t know if that’s really attainable. There’s just too little water in the skin. Like, it’s fake; it looks CGI’d. And that required Lasix, powerful diuretics, to achieve.” He went on to describe overtraining, not sleeping and how it led to depression. Recovery took six months. He wanted the information in the interview because he doesn’t want anyone trying to emulate that physique. Leaning into my overprotection of Zac, I feel for him that so much space is given to how his body looks that he feels compelled to give disclaimers. This interview was no exception. After spending the day with him and noting all of his insecurities about how his physique is perceived, maybe ask him about his workout but don’t devote the opening two paragraphs to his left bicep.
Photo credit: Instagram and Getty Images
Goodness, that photo with the mustache! Looks great, grown up Efron is a handsome man
So handsome!
He’s always been a good-lucking guy but he’s aging like a fine wine.
didn’t we know this at the time? I distinctly remember the story of him breaking his jaw.
he seems like a nice guy. that’s all I’ve got.
He resembles the dashing Erroll Flynn.
Hearing about all of Zac’s injuries and the public obsessively picking apart his ‘uncut’ body and suspected cosmetic surgery reminds me of what happened to Brendan Fraser back in the day. I hope that Zac can find a solid niche that doesn’t rely on his physique and he can feel a bit more at peace with less pressure. He seems like a solid dude and I’d like to see him succeed on his terms.
Astute observation and yeah, poor Brendan Fraser. Zac has been really good in the few movies I’ve seen him in–hope he has a long future in acting.
I would just like to say that I am here for ‘Dad bods’, body hair, fuller bodies, lanky bodies, whatever. For all of the discussion about beauty standards for women in show business, we women can be just as bad and movies seem to think every leading man needs to be hairless with biceps the size of a Prius. It ain’t so. There isn’t just one type of attractive.
I’m a Zac fan, did you all see him in the Ted Bundy movie? He was incredible, and I found myself attracted to a serial killer. LOL.
I am also a Zac fan. Unapologetically. I loved Down to Earth with Zac Efron.
I have such a soft spot for the guy. Can’t watch the Greatest Showman without having an inappropriate crush on a guy much younger than me. He has gravitas – and not just in his muscles. He doesn’t get enough credit for his acting chops and charisma. I could watch 17 Again over and over – it’s easy watching, and he radiates sincerity. I know he’s complicated, and has probably struggled with some serious stuff over the years, but man…he’s one that if I read a headline that he had suddenly passed, I’d be so sad for the work I never got to see and for the way I *hope* I get to see him find a comfortable, confident place for himself. He deserves it.
I’m also a Zac apologist. I just love him.
Isn’t this the second time he’s “broken jaw.” I vaguely remember a story about a bridge.
I didn’t know much about him before seeing him on Running Wild with Bear Grylis and wow, those 2 had so much fun together that it was impossible not to fall in love with him just a little bit☺️
I like him a lot, he’s got great comedic timing and is actually a really talented and underappreciated actor I think.
He talked about the Baywatch body before and he’s always been clear that it wasn’t healthy and he never wants to go there again. I appreciate that. I also just don’t buy the chicke-and-broccoli-narrative that male actors sell. It’s the water-and-sleep-routine female actors sell when asked about their youthfulness. It’s all very annoying.
I am a Zac apologist too. I am old enough to be his Mother. It is not a crush, I do think he is handsome. He always tugs at my heart strings. He seems like one of the sweet ones in Hollywood. I think it’s a broken jaw too. One of my friends went through several stages of weird face with his broken jaw.
I think if you are someone has been fortunate enough not to experience back to back injuries that it can be hard to understand the toll it takes on your mind and body. It’s sad that while he was undergoing all of this physical anguish privately that he was being picked apart publicly. But I’m not going to lie!!! When I first saw the photos of what looked like bad plastic surgery, I shrieked!!
I’m sorry, but that was not just “jaw surgery” in the first picture. It was filler. People get filler around their jawline for a more defined look all the time. It would also make sense now as to why his jaw looks more “normal” given that filler dissolves after about a year.
No shame in the game at all, I think Zac is a very underrated comedic actor and he was charming AF on his Netflix show. Also YUM at the beard. I’m here for Zaddy Zac.
I have TMJ disorder and when it flares up, I can’t stop clenching my teeth and my jaw muscle does grow and grow and make my face look puffed up and weirdly bulky in the same spot where he looks puffy. I believe him.
I’m a total Zac stan and I’m also a nurse so I have serious doubts about this story from a medical standpoint BUT that said it could be entirely true. Either way, it’s his business what he chooses to do and all I want is to see him happy and healthy and making good stuff for us to watch. He’s not 18 anymore and he’s changed his body shape a lot. I just appreciate that he’s still here for me to admire and be proud of.