Movies Gallery 39 photos of Zac Efron through the years By Madeline Boardman Madeline Boardman Madeline Boardman is a former digital features director at Entertainment Weekly. She left EW in 2017. EW's editorial guidelines and EW Staff Updated on February 24, 2023 10:05AM EST Close 01 of 39 Zac Efron through the years Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage Born in San Luis Obispo, Calif. on October 18, 1987, Zac Efron rose to fame in his teens, picking up roles in episodes of Firefly and ER before joining Summerland as Cameron Bale. He famously made his debut as Troy Bolton in High School Musical in 2006, and went on to reprise the role in multiple sequels. Over a decade later, Efron is a bona fide star, with credits that include 17 Again, Neighbors, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, The Disaster Artist, The Greatest Showman, and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. See 37 photos of Efron through the years, ahead. 02 of 39 Zac Efron at Ashley Tisdale's birthday party on Oct. 9, 2005 Michael Bezjian/WireImage 03 of 39 Zac Efron at NBC Studios in New York City on March 30, 2006 Jemal Countess/WireImage 04 of 39 Zac Efron at Movieline's Hollywood Life ninth annual Young Hollywood Awards on April 22, 2007 Jeff Vespa/WireImage 05 of 39 Zac Efron at the world premiere of Disney Channel's High School Musical 2 in Anaheim, Calif. on Aug. 14, 2007 Charley Gallay/Getty Images 06 of 39 Zac Efron at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards on Aug. 26, 2007 Kevin Winter/Getty Images 07 of 39 Zac Efron at the 14th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 27, 2008 Kevin Mazur/WireImage 08 of 39 Zac Efron at the 17th annual MTV Movie Awards on June 1, 2008 Frazer Harrison/Getty Images 09 of 39 Zac Efron at the High School Musical 3: Senior Year press conference in Beverly Hills on Oct. 12, 2008 Vera Anderson/WireImage 10 of 39 Zac Efron at the Los Angeles premiere of High School Musical 3: Senior Year on Oct. 16, 2008 Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic 11 of 39 Zac Efron at the 17 Again premiere in London on March 26, 2009 Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images 12 of 39 Zac Efron at the German premiere of 17 Again in Berlin on April 26, 2009 Franziska Krug/Getty Images 13 of 39 Zac Efron at the U.K. premiere of Me and Orson Welles in London on Nov. 18, 2009 Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images 14 of 39 Zac Efron at the Late Show With David Letterman in New York City on Nov. 24, 2009 James Devaney/WireImage 15 of 39 Zac Efron with Vanessa Hudgens at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards on June 6, 2010 Jason Merritt/Getty Images 16 of 39 Zac Efron at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. on July 19, 2010 Adam Bettcher/Getty Images 17 of 39 Zac Efron on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on July 20, 2010 Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank 18 of 39 Zac Efron at the 2011 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 5, 2011 Michael Caulfield/Getty Images 19 of 39 Zac Efron arrives at the 68th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills on Jan. 16, 2011 Jason Merritt/Getty Images 20 of 39 Zac Efron at the New Year's Eve premiere in New York City on Dec. 7, 2011 Rob Kim/FilmMagic 21 of 39 Zac Efron at the premiere of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax on Feb. 19, 2012 Kevin Winter/Getty Images 22 of 39 Zac Efron at The Paperboy photo-call at the 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 24, 2012 Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images 23 of 39 Zac Efron at the At Any Price premiere at the 69th Venice Film Festival on Aug. 31, 2012 Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images 24 of 39 Zac Efron filming That Awkward Moment in New York City on Dec. 20, 2012 Ray Tamarra/Getty Images 25 of 39 Zac Efron at the screening of At Any Price at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 19, 2013 Gary Gershoff/WireImage 26 of 39 Zac Efron at the premiere of That Awkward Moment in Los Angeles on Jan. 27, 2014 Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images 27 of 39 Zac Efron at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles on April 13, 2014 Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic 28 of 39 Zac Efron at the European premiere of We Are Your Friends in London on Aug. 11, 2015 Anthony Harvey/Getty Images 29 of 39 Zac Efron at The Today Show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Aug. 17, 2016 Harry How/Getty Images 30 of 39 Zac Efron at the Australian premiere of Baywatch on May 18, 2017 Don Arnold/WireImage 31 of 39 Zac Efron on Live With Kelly and Ryan on May 22, 2017 ABC 32 of 39 Zac Efron at The Greatest Showman world premiere in New York City on Dec. 8, 2017 Mark Sagliocco/FilmMagic 33 of 39 Zac Efron presenting at the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills on Jan. 7, 2018 Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images 34 of 39 Zac Efron on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on April 30, 2019 Randy Holmes via Getty Images 35 of 39 Zac Efron on Hot Ones on April 2, 2020 Zac Efron on 'Hot Ones'. First We Feast/YouTube During Efron's appearance on Hot Ones the star admitted how hard it was to work on the movie Baywatch, stating, "I never want to be in that good of shape again." 36 of 39 Zac Efron on The Disney Family Singalong on April 16, 2020 ABC 37 of 39 Zac Efron on Down to Earth With Zac Efron in July 2020 NETFLIX 38 of 39 Zac Efron at UFC 269 in Las Vegas on Dec. 11, 2021 Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC 39 of 39 Zac Efron filming The Iron Claw in New Orleans on Nov. 18, 2022 MEGA/GC Images