Zac Efron Breaks Silence on Mental Suffering After Preparing for THIS Role
Veteran actor Zac Efron opens up on a dark time in his life following intense training for THIS role, and how it affected him.
Zac Efron rose to prominence during his role as leading man Troy Bolton in the "High School Musical" trilogy. He went on to star in the musical film "Hairspray" and the comedy film "17 again". Recently, the 34 year old actor undertook one of the biggest challenges in his acting career-obtaining the "Baywatch" body.
In a Men's Health interview for their October 2022 cover story, Efron got vulnerable about the physical and mental suffering he endured while preparing for his role in the comedy-action film in 2007.
"I started to develop insomnia," Efron said, "and I fell into a pretty bad depression, for a long time. Something about that experience burned me out. I had a really hard time recentering. Ultimately they chalked it up to taking way too many diuretics for way too long, and it messed something up."
Efron starred in "Baywatch" alongside veteran actors Dwayne Johnson, Alexandra Daddario, and David Hasselhoff. He went on to describe the lengths it would take to achieve the "Baywatch" body and expressed the doubts he felt during that time.
"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. So I don't need to do that. I much prefer to have an extra, you know, 2 to 3 percent body fat." Efron explained.
The Aftermath of 'Baywatch'
"The Greatest Showman" actor expressed following the end of the film and later on took a break from acting during his time living in Australia. Efron revealed that during this time, he attempted to let go of his fitness routine as a way to cope, but ended up feeling "miserable".
Eventually, the "Baywatch" star was able to come to terms with his mindset in continuing his fitness journey, through "constructive misery-but more mindfully".
Despite the hardships he endured, Efron's labor may have paid off when the film received several nominations. The 34 year old actor won as Choice Movie: Comedy Actor during the Teen Choice Awards in 2017. "Baywatch" also won Best T&A of the Year on the Golden Schmoes Awards.
