Not just another PRETTY FACE
Efron plays a damaged marine in The Lucky One
Zac Efron was having a thoughtful discussion with a friend in a corridor of the Four Seasons Hotel when a few guests strolled by, recognizing the High School Musical star as they did.
Efron acknowledged their chattering enthusiasm with a polite nod and went back to his conversation.
For the stargazing, middleaged
couple, it’s a great story to tell their kids. For the 24-year-old, it’s just another day as a teen idol trying to graduate into adulthood.
His latest role in the movie version of the Nicholas Sparks novel The Lucky One is a step in that direction.
Opening Friday, the film features Efron as an Iraq war veteran who returns to the United States obsessed with the one thing he thinks saved his life there: a photograph he found during a firefight of a woman he doesn’t know.
After Efron’s marine sergeant locates the woman in the picture, Beth (Taylor Schilling), he shows up at her door, and inadvertently agrees to work at a dog kennel she runs without telling her why he showed up. As they start falling for each other, complications develop.
The soldier, after three tours of duty in Iraq, is suffering flashbacks from posttraumatic stress disorder. And Beth is a single mother, who is still grief-stricken after her brother was killed in action.
Co-starring in the romantic drama is Blythe Danner, who plays the woman’s rock-solid grandmother. Jay R. Ferguson is the woman’s jealous ex-husband, who’s a deputy sheriff determined to cause trouble for the mysterious marine.
Typically, this loyal film rendition of Sparks’ book is chock full of depictions of love, loss and tragic consequences of secrets revealed.
However, in a sharp contrast to Efron’s usual extrovert, he plays his soldier with a laid-back introspection.
“It’s a part that’s a progression I have been working on for a long time,” says the actor in a suite, a few minutes after his hallway encounter. “I was scared when I read The Lucky One script because I really liked the character, but in some ways, I knew some people would think I was completely wrong for it.”
The thrill of acting against type was the impetus Efron needed. Certainly, director Scott Hicks was impressed with the young actor’s commitment.
“Zac set his vanity aside because he really wanted to get this right,” Hicks says. “He said to me, ‘You tell me what you want me to do, and I will do it.’ ”
To come across as a convincing battle-hardened veteran, Efron gained 17 pounds of mostly muscle, and hung out with marines and navy SEALS to absorb their attitudes. He also paid attention to their demeanour on set during the battle sequences, which open the movie.
“I tried to use these guys as much as I could, and just be aware of what they were doing, and how they were doing it, and how they spoke to each other,” Efron says.
Hicks was impressed with his star’s devotion to his part, physically and emotionally. “Zac is a delightful and friendly sort of person, but he had to play somebody uncommunicative, and he did it very convincingly.”
He also had some steamy sequences with Schilling that counted as an onscreen first for him, including a sexy shower scene.
“I think, the first time we did it, we didn’t know it was going to be cold, but then it warmed up,” says Efron, smiling. “At that point, Taylor and I knew each other well, so there was no awkward moment.”
In fact, Schilling, who made a name for herself on the now-defunct series Mercy, insists she was unaware of Efron’s status as a High School Musical poster boy.
“I got to know him as a capable scene partner, and as an actor showing up for me every day,” Schilling says.
She’s definitely in the minority, when it comes to knowing Efron’s past as Troy Bolton, the handsome hunk from the 2006 Disney TV movie, High School Musical, 2007’s sequel on television, and 2008’s High School Musical movie, which completed the franchise.
In between, Efron played Link Larkin in the film musical Hairspray, earning good reviews in the process. In 2009, his post High School Musical movies — 17 Again, Me and Orson Welles and Charlie St. Cloud — had varying degrees of success.
The Lucky One is the first in a series of serious Efron films. He also co-stars with John Cusack and Matthew Mcconaughey in the thriller The Paperboy, set for a November release. And he plays opposite Dennis Quaid in a low-budget drama directed by Ramin Bahrani, which has no title yet.
“Every time, I confront my fears when I go into a movie,” Efron says. “It’s a big growing experience for me.”