Zac Efron has opened up about a lie that he’s kept secret for years, and one that still haunts him to this day – and it involves monkeys.
The 36-year-old Hollywood star has had his life played out in the media since the mid-noughties after rising to fame in the High School Musical franchise, so you’d be forgiven for thinking you already knew pretty much everything about him.
Alas, Zac has now told us that there’s one big looming secret lie that still occupies space in his brain decades later.
The superstar, also known for roles in Baywatch, Hairspray and The Iron Claw, is about to star in Peter Farrelly’s new Amazon Prime Video film, Ricky Stanicky, alongside John Cena, Andrew Santino and Jermaine Fowler.
Speaking of lies, the comedy follows a group of school friends who make up a childhood pal named Ricky Stanicky who they use to get them out of trouble and as a convenient excuse to change plans – but it all comes crashing down when their loved ones demand to meet the infamous Mr Stanicky, forcing them to put a face to the name.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk ahead of the release, we asked the cast to name the most ridiculous lie they were ever caught in, and Zac, who plays Dean, didn’t hold back.
‘I remember I was on a school trip in fifth or sixth grade and we went to the zoo,’ he recalled.
‘There was a sign that said, “Do not clap at the monkeys”. My friends and I noticed it, and the lady goes, “Guys, whatever you do, do not draw attention yourselves with these monkeys.”
‘The class moved on, and we immediately ran back to the monkey cage and just started clapping.
‘They started throwing s**t at us. S**t got everywhere, landed next to a bunch of little kids, and was hitting strollers and things.
‘It was our fault, but we didn’t tell the teacher that we had done that. Even when the park [staff] came and said that some of their students had caused the monkeys to lose it, we were like, “No, It wasn’t me! I didn’t do that, I didn’t clap.”
‘But there was s**t everywhere. That one is going to haunt me,’ he added, shuddering.
Andrew pitched in with a lie of his own, claiming that he was given money to attend university but didn’t end up going.
‘My parents thought I went to college for four years, but I didn’t,’ the JT actor laughed. ‘That was a big one. I just made them give me money, tuition, for four years. I never went. I just took the money.’
Baffled, John attempted to get his co-star out of a hole he’d made for himself, questioning what he learned during that time.
‘How to save money,’ Andrew replied, without skipping a beat. ‘Yeah, I learned how to budget.’
The cast could make a sequel just based on the lies from their own lives…
Ricky Stanicky is released later this week and if the trailer is anything to go by, viewers are in for a treat.
The synopsis reads: ‘When three childhood best friends pull a prank gone wrong, they invent the imaginary Ricky Stanicky to get them out of trouble!
‘Twenty years after creating this “friend,” Dean, JT, and Wes (Zac Efron, Andrew Santino, and Jermaine Fowler) still use the nonexistent Ricky as a handy alibi for their immature behavior.
‘When their spouses and partners get suspicious and demand to finally meet the fabled Mr Stanicky, the guilty trio decide to hire washed-up actor and raunchy celebrity impersonator “Rock Hard” Rod (John Cena) to bring him to life.
‘But when Rod takes his role of a lifetime too far, they begin to wish they’d never invented Ricky in the first place. From director Peter Farrelly and featuring additional cast members including William H Macy, Lex Scott Davis, and Anja Savcic.’
Ricky Stanicky is as raucous as you’d expect, with bonkers scenes including John dressed up as Britney Spears, belting out some very NSFW lyrics, while also discussing his one sad testicle.
It is shaping up to be the wildest comedy of 2024 and the former WWE icon’s colleagues revealed that he steered the way on set, making sure that everyone was as committed as he was.
‘John set the tone for this whole movie,’ Zac praised. ‘When you see somebody commit to that level and you’re all in, and it’s fun to work with you… It takes balls to do that. Once you set the tone for that, we all followed suit.’
Discussing whether he ever thought twice about the material, or whether anything went over the line, John continued: ‘At no point did I think, “What the hell am I doing?” When you’re getting involved with Peter, I think you think that anything’s in play, and I like that.
‘It was very hard to keep it together – especially because the stuff is so funny on the page, and then Peter was kind enough to let us experiment with jokes and add our creative input if we wanted. Once you get all of us laughing, it’s tough to actually get a serious take out of it. That’s a good thing.
‘As far as over the line? I don’t think I don’t think there was a line – I think we established earlier that there is no line. I think the most important thing was literally just trying to keep the through line of the narrative. Because we were having so much fun, and we don’t want to lose…
‘You do have to take the audience on a journey, it can’t just be a bunch of jokes. So, I think the most important thing was like, “Hey, remember in the movie where we are, remember what’s going on, remember what’s already happened. And now have some fun.”
‘Because, when we get in those funny moments, and everybody’s riffing, and everybody’s having fun and telling jokes, sometimes you do lose… Like, “Hey, we do have to keep the story going.”’
‘And that’s what Pete Farrelly does,’ Zac added. ‘He’s such a good director because he’s aware of the comedy, but he’s also hyper aware of the character and the dynamic, the relationships and the through line and keeping it all together.
‘I don’t know how he’s able to do it. It really is magic, but that’s why his comedies are so special.’
Ricky Stanicky is on Amazon Prime on March 7.
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