The discourse around Zac Efron’s changing appearance resurfaced earlier this year when the actor starred in the Netflix rom-com, A Family Affair.
The High School Musical star, 36, appeared opposite Nicole Kidman and Joey King in the new film.
But as viewers delivered their verdict on this latest streaming service romance, many shared concerns over the actor’s face, saying he looked like an ‘entirely different person’.
Others speculated whether he has taken the familiar pipeline for many Hollywood stars and invested in some form of cosmetic surgery.
Although the Iron Claw actor – who recently made headlines after being found ‘in distress’ in a swimming pool – has had jaw surgery in the past, it’s not for the reason fans may assume.
So, here’s everything we know about the Hollywood star’s facial transformation.
What actually happened to Zac Efron’s jaw?
News that Zac hurt himself first broke in 2013, with details emerging that his jaw had been wired shut and he required stitches.
In April 2021, after an Earth Day special Bill Nye, the internet caught onto how radically different his facial structure appeared, sparking social media discourse about what happened.
A year later, the Greatest Showman actor told Men’s Health Magazine that he severely injured his jaw in a freak accident at home.
He explained that he had been running through his house in socks and slipped, smashing his chin against the granite corner of a fountain.
He added that the masseter muscles in his face, used for chewing, were affected and after his injury, the muscles on the inside of his face and jaw had to compensate.
He worked with a specialist and physical therapist during his recovery with noticeable side effects. ‘The masseters just grew,’ he added.
‘They just got really, really big.’
What are the masseter muscles?
According to the National Institutes of Health: ‘The masseter muscle is one of the four muscles responsible for the action of mastication (chewing). When the masseter contracts it causes powerful elevation of the mandible causing the mouth to close’
He later spoke with Entertainment Tonight about his reaction to the rampant online speculation.
‘My mom told me. I don’t really read the internet, so, I don’t really give a f**k,” Zac initially explained.
‘It was funny,’ he said about the idea he had received plastic surgery. ‘It sucks. I almost died, but we’re good.’
The star has been in his fair share of dangerous situations over the years. Last month, he was taken to a hospital in Ibiza ‘as a precautionary measure’ after being found ‘in distress’ in a pool.
According to TMZ, he ingested a large amount of water into his lungs when his chest hit the bottom of the pool after he dove into the water. After a chest X-ray he given the all-clear
What has Zac previously said about his relationship with body image?
Zac has previously opened up about his struggles with transforming his looks for certain roles such as in Baywatch and the Iron Claw.
Elsewhere in his interview with Men’s Health he explained that he wasn’t sure the chiselled Baywatch look was ‘really attainable’.
He continued: ‘[It] 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,
He overtrained his body and ate the same three meals every day, going to bed after midnight post-filing and waking up at 4am.
‘I started to develop insomnia. 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.’
Zac added: ‘Ultimately they chalked it up to taking way too many diuretics for way too long, and it messed something up.’
Although it ‘used to be a dream’ to have his body ‘in shape all the time’, his attitude eventually shifted.
‘What if I just say, “F**k it” and let myself go? So I tried it, and I was successful.
‘And for all the reasons I thought it would be incredible, I was just miserable. My body would not feel healthy; I just didn’t feel alive. I felt bogged down and slow.’
This article was first published on July 3, 2024.
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