Zachary David Alexander Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. Efron began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence as a teen idol for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the High School Musical trilogy (2006–2008). During this time, he also starred in the musical film Hairspray (2007) and the comedy film 17 Again (2009), the former of which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.
Efron had starring roles in the films New Year's Eve (2011), The Lucky One (2012), The Paperboy (2012), Neighbors (2014), Dirty Grandpa (2016), Baywatch (2017), and The Greatest Showman (2017). He played Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) and Kevin Von Erich in The Iron Claw (2023). In 2021, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for hosting the Netflix travel show Down to Earth with Zac Efron (2020–2022).
A Family Affair
Chris Cole
2024
NCISverse: The First 1,000
Self
2024
Ricky Stanicky
Dean
2024
The Iron Claw
Kevin Von Erich
2023
Scoob!
Fred Jones (voice)
2020
Dude Perfect: Backstage Pass
Himself
2020
The Great Global Cleanup
Self
2020
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
Ted Bundy
2019
The Beach Bum
Flicker
2019
The Greatest Showman
Phillip Carlyle
2017
Baywatch
Matt Brody
2017
The Disaster Artist
Dan / 'Chris-R'
2017
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Dave Stangle
2016
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
Teddy Sanders
2016
High School Musical: 10th Anniversary
(uncredited)
2016
Dirty Grandpa
Jason Kelly
2016
We Are Your Friends
Cole
2015
21 Years: Richard Linklater
Self - Actor
2014
Neighbors
Teddy Sanders
2014
Robot Chicken DC Comics Special II: Villains in Paradise
Superboy / Brainiac (voice)
2014
That Awkward Moment
Jason
2014
Parkland
Jim Carrico
2013
The Paperboy
Jack Jansen
2012
Liberal Arts
Nat
2012
At Any Price
Dean Whipple
2012
The Lucky One
Logan Thibault
2012
The Lorax
Ted Wiggins (voice)
2012
New Year's Eve
Paul
2011
Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III
Anakin Skywalker (voice)
2010
Charlie St. Cloud
Charlie St. Cloud
2010
Zac Efron: The Ultimate Idol
Self (Archived Footage)
2009
17 Again
Mike O'Donnell
2009
High School Musical 3: Making Of A Musical
Self
2008
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Troy Bolton
2008
Me and Orson Welles
Richard Samuels
2008
High School Musical 2
Troy Bolton
2007
Hairspray
Link Larkin
2007
Road To High School Musical 2
Self
2007
If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now
Cody
2006
High School Musical
Troy Bolton
2006
The Derby Stallion
Patrick McCardle
2005
Miracle Run
Steven Morgan
2004
Famous
Lance Dunkquist / James Jansen
Night Business
Johnny Timothy
The Studio
Zac Efron · (1 episode)
2025
The Greatest Beer Run Ever
John 'Chickie' Donohue
2022
Firestarter
Andy McGee
2022
Gold
Virgil
2022
Save Ralph
Bobby (voice)
2021
Down to Earth with Zac Efron
Self · (16 episodes)
2020
The Disney Family Singalong
Self
2020
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self · (1 episode)
2019
Human Discoveries
Gary (voice) · (10 episodes)
2019
The Late Late Show with James Corden
Self · (1 episode)
2015
Hot Ones
Self · (1 episode)
2015
Running Wild with Bear Grylls
Self · (1 episode)
2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self · (1 episode)
2014
HitRECord on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt
(1 episode)
2014
Conan
Self · (1 episode)
2010
Zac Efron's Pool Party
Self
2009
High School Musical: Remix
Troy Bolton
2006
Judgment Day
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self · (2 episodes)
2014
Catfish: The TV Show
Self · (1 episode)
2012
The Graham Norton Show
Self · (1 episode)
2007
The Graham Norton Show
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2007
El hormiguero
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2006
The Replacements
Davey Hunkerhoff · (1 episode)
2006
Disney Channel Games
Self · (9 episodes)
2006
Heist
Pizza Delivery Guy · (1 episode)
2006
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
Trevor · (1 episode)
2005
Robot Chicken
Billy Joel, Mechanic (voice) · (1 episode)
2005
Robot Chicken
Anakin Skywalker, Red Power Ranger, God (voice) · (1 episode)
2005
Robot Chicken
Harry Potter, Horrg, Bowling Pin (voice) · (1 episode)
2005
Entourage
Zac Efron · (1 episode)
2004
Summerland
Cameron Bale · (16 episodes)
2004
NCIS
Daniel Austin · (1 episode)
2003
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self · (1 episode)
2003
The Big Wide World of Carl Laemke
Pete Laemke
2003
Punk'd
Self · (2 episodes)
2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self · (2 episodes)
2003
Melinda's World
Stuart Wasser
2003
CSI: Miami
Seth Dawson · (1 episode)
2002
Firefly
Young Simon · (2 episodes)
2002
The Guardian
Luke Tomello · (1 episode)
2001
The View
Self · (1 episode)
1997
ER
Bobby Neville · (1 episode)
1994
MTV Movie & TV Awards
Self · (3 episodes)
1992
Entertainment Tonight
Self · (3 episodes)
1981
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host · (1 episode)
1975
Killing Zac Efron
(1 episode)