Zac Efron has come a long way from bouncing a basketball as Troy Bolton in the Disney Channel original movie, High School Musical. At the time he was cast in the television movie, he was relatively unknown - if not, completely unknown - in the acting community without a major character role under his belt. Fifteen years later, he's surpassed his initial breakout to the point that many fans might forget that he was ever captain of the Wildcats basketball team.
Zac Efron's star has soared and flown high enough that there's not a star in Heaven he can't reach. Yes, those are High School Musical song lyrics (as seen during Efron and Hudgens' "Breaking Free" performance, which can be found on YouTube), but it's also the perfect analogy highlighting how Efron has stretched out his success far and wide across different avenues since that movie.
10 Became A Hollywood Leading Man
It is not hard to imagine how - in terms of acting at least - Zac Efron has remained the most successful former High School Musical alum. While his former castmates, like Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens, are doing well for themselves in their own right, no one else in the cast has made the transition to Hollywood as seamlessly nor as strongly as Zac Efron.
The man has managed to act alongside Hollywood heavyweights like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Hugh Jackman whilst also solidifying his mega-star status with multiple box office smash hits.
9 Reached The Forbes Celebrity 100
Reaching the Forbes 100 is not an easy feat to accomplish, but Zac Efron managed to find his way onto the list relatively early on in his career.
Just two years removed from High School Musical, he reached the list at an impressive #92 thanks to a $5.8 million net worth, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. In the time since then, his current net worth is more than four times that size at $25 million.
8 Broke Up With Vanessa Hudgens
Upon meeting on the set of High School Musical, the two romantic leads appeared to sizzle off the screen, so much so that they wound up dating in real life even after the 2005 production ended.
Their relationship survived the entirety of the High School Musical trilogy, but the two ended up breaking up in 2010, two years after the final movie in the franchise was released in theaters.
7 Almost Died While Filming A Survival Reality Show
For the most part since entering the movie world, Zac Efron rarely partakes in working for television, but in 2019 he started production on what was supposed to a survival reality show for Quibi called Killing Zac Efron.
However, right before Christmas that same year, production on the show paused when Efron suffered a bacterial infection that actually did almost kill him. The show never finished production before Quibi shut down in late 2020 and it doesn't appear as though the show ever will finish.
6 Got Sober
Zac Efron has been very open about once suffering from both alcohol and substance abuse during the early 2010s. He finally decided to seek out the treatment he needed to fight his addictions back in 2013.
Ever since then, Efron has remained sober with no signs of a relapse.
5 Finished A Doc Series For Netflix
Although his survival reality series doc for Quibi appears to be forever in limbo, he crafted a completely different reality series for Netflix that released in 2020.
While Killing Zac Efron would have focused on the title man traveling around the world and getting in dangerous situations, Down to Earth with Zac Efron focuses more on him traveling around the world to find sustainable ways to live through health advice.
4 Started His Own Production Company
It makes complete perfect sense for an actor who has spent his entire life performing and loving the craft of acting to decide to start his own production company, both to greenlight projects he's passionate about and to have more control over movies he wants to star in.
Many actors take this approach and in 2010, Zac Efron joined these ranked when he founded his own TV and movie production company called Ninjas Runnin' Wild.
3 Practiced Meditation After Ted Bundy Role
After putting his body and mind through the grueling task of portraying Ted Bundy for the Netflix movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Efron felt as though he needed a detox of some sort to get himself out of the mind of a serial killer and back into himself.
To start the process of re-discovering himself all over again, he sought transcendental mediation - or silent breathing mantra exercises - which helped him both de-stress and relax post-Bundy.
2 Launched His Own YouTube Channel
Zac Efron has been seen on both the big and small screen, but in 2019, he decided to dedicate a portrait of his life to the smallest screen possible: the YouTube screen as found on laptops and phones.
He started running his own YouTube vlogging shows: Off the Grid with his brother Dylan, and Gym Time showcasing his own training and diet regiment.
1 Started Dating Vanessa Valladares
While Vanessa Hudgens has long been gone from his love life, a series of other failed relationships has finally led Zac Efron to fall in love with an entirely new Vanessa: a model with the last name Valladares.
The two have only been publicly dating since the latter half of 2020, so the relationship is still new, but considering he's now moved in with her from Los Angeles into her native Australia, things are looking serious.