Kidzworld kicked it at the beach in Marina, Del Rey, CA, with gorgeous mega-star Zac Efron, who talked about his new romantic drama Charlie St. Cloud, in which he plays a small-town hero who withdraws from life when his little brother dies.
We are learning what Zac likes about his leading lady Amanda Crew, how he dealt with his most embarrassing fan encounter moment on the streets of L.A., where he, Vanessa and pals would love to sail (now that he's learned how for the film) and how he's changed since we first met him in 2005! He's come a long way from the first High School Musical TV movie.
Sitting down with Zac to get the latest, we went all retro and handed him a digital pic we took of him in 2005 before HSM ever came out. He was 16.
Kidzworld: I took this of you in 2005 at a 'meet and greet' for young
stars of tomorrow. You were sitting there alone. I decided to come over
and talk to this cute young guy and you told me all about [kwlink 15593]High School
Musical[/kwlink].
Courtesy of Lynn Barker
Zac: Oh wow! [he laughs] That's so funny! That's very cool! [I hand him the picture and he keeps looking at it].
Kidzworld: Who were you then? Who are you now? And what do you miss
about the young teen in that picture?
Zac: Oh man! [looking at the picture] I think right there it was just
the naiveté. There was always a “best case scenario” that was next and
you were pointed in the right direction and you would either get that
project or you wouldn't. It was very simple at that time.
Kidzworld: And now?
Zac: Now, I'm being privy to so much more information and being behind
the scenes of a lot of stuff, it's become more of a full-time job for
me. I think here [at age 16], not to say it was less work but, look at
me! I don't have a care in the world here [we laugh]. Now I'm running my
own ship more. Then I was waiting for that big surprise and I was still
in high school. That's one thing that's been great is I'm not having to
wake up early for class all the time.
Kidzworld: You went through a sort of learn-to-sail boot camp for this
film. Was sailing hard to learn?
Zac: Sailing is sort of hard. You can't just say, “I'm going sailing this
weekend.” There is a lot of preparation that goes into it. You need to
get a boat and a crew. It's not like surfing where you just grab your
board and go. But, I'd love to do it in the future. I'd like to go some
long-distance sailing. I think that would be really fun. Me and my dad
want to do that.
Kidzworld: That's cool but if you and Vanessa or you and your friends
were going to just secretly sail away, where would be your dream
destination and why?
Zac: I don't know but the sail to Hawaii is supposed to be really fun.
It takes about 10 days to get there. That would be a big commitment.
You'd need a pretty devoted crew. That would take weeks and then we
wouldn't want to leave the island for the big sail back. But somewhere
with clear blue water would be really fun to sail.
Kidzworld: What is it like when you see yourself on the screen now? How
do you feel?
Zac: My head is HUGE [he laughs]. Enrique [Chediak] was a real cool
[director of photography] and he’s really good at making everything look
beautiful. I noticed that first and foremost. As far as watching myself
on screen, I tend to, especially the first time around, pick out every
single flaw, or things I could have and should have done better. I’m
more of a cringer at first, and then when it’s years down the road and
it’s out of the way I can kind of look back and appreciate it somehow.
Kidzworld: What was it about Amanda Crew that clicked so well with you?
Why was she perfect for the part of your leading lady?
Zac: Amanda had a very different read. She was very natural and very
stunning; she has a unique look that I hadn't seen before. I couldn't
look at Amanda and name any other actress who looked like her or had her
presence. She came in prepared and excited and she was a little bit
nervous and cute and just seemed like she'd be a great person to work
with; somebody who could be real in the circumstances of the story. She
proved to be that and so much more.
Kidzworld: You two have some pretty intense romantic scenes. Was that
awkward for you?
Zac: No. She was really easygoing. I’ve never really found romantic
scenes intensely or incredibly awkward, which I was supposed to be
during this. So, I think we found common ground. We held each other’s
hands through this whole experience. We just got along really well.
There was nothing to be nervous about. The only weird part was being in
a graveyard for that love scene was kind of, a little bit weird.
Kidzworld: I can imagine! What did you and Amanda do off-set of before
shooting to get to know each other?
Zac: When you're on set like that, as much as we love the crew and hang
out with the crew a lot, we do, as actors, like to go off and do our own
things. Amanda would come over and hang out all the time and not just to
read scripts. We'd do a lot of rehearsal but we'd go to Whistler
(Canadian ski resort) for the weekend and just hang out and do fun
stuff. We were a pretty close group of friends.
Kidzworld: For a lot of the film, your character Charlie is just dead
inside, just going through the motions. How hard was this to play for an
energetic, life-loving guy like you?
Zac: [laughs] I really had to subdue that goofball.
Kidzworld: Your inner goofball?
Zac: Exactly. I had to detach myself. I turned my phone off almost
entirely. I wasn't on my iPhone the entire time I was there. It was
fun. He was cut off so I tried to do as much as I could to do that too.
Not that it was method acting but I did as much as I could to stay in
character. You have to do that. Otherwise, it doesn't come across as
genuine.
Kidzworld: Charlie's younger brother is a big part of his life. Did your
connection to your own younger brother help your portrayal?
Zac: Definitely. My brother is 18 now so we're about four-and-a-half years
apart. In all these scenarios I just pictured him there with me. And
Charlie (Tahan who plays Zac's bro in the film) was great. We had such a
great relationship by the end of the film and it was coming very
naturally. We became great friends and would bounce off each other.
Kidzworld: Have you had a family loss like Charlie?
Zac: Yeah, absolutely but I don't want to talk about it specifically but
I think everyone experiences that so I can relate.
Kidzworld: Have you ever had a paranormal experience; saw something that
you were not positive was really there? [There is a paranormal element
in this film].
Zac: I've definitely had that. I don't see dead people but everyone has
had that moment when the hair on the back of your neck raises up and you
wonder what's really going on. I've always been intrigued by it. I've
always been curious about it. All of it. It's incredibly interesting. It
doesn't really come from personal experience but I've always had an
affinity for that culture. My mom's really spiritual and so I would like
to believe that your loved-ones who move on, a piece of them stays with
you.
Kidzworld: You as Charlie and your little bro Sam are body surfing on
trashcan lids in the rain. It's a cute scene. Were you really doing it?
Zac: We're really doing that. Initially, in the script, it was sliding
in the mud but just from personal experience, the sliding in the mud
thing is never really comfortable. You get banged up. I told Burr (his
director) it would be cooler if we could actually skim-board so we
figured out a way to work that in instead of just sliding through water
on our stomachs which wouldn't be fun for very long. We wanted to give
it a little more style. It was fun.
Kidzworld: There is a traffic accident in the film that really changes
Charlie St. Cloud's life. A lot of young stars have been in some serious
traffic accidents. Shia LaBeouf comes to mind. Are you just a great
driver or have you had some close calls?
Zac: I'm a pretty good driver. I don't like to talk and multi-task. I
have a Blue-Tooth thing in my car so I'm pretty safe. I did an Audi
driving course on a professional race track and I didn't know at all
about driving technique or skill and I've learned quite a bit recently.
There's a whole thing about weight distribution in the car for maximum
turning and hitting your apex on U-turns. That's what we learned and
that's really improved my driving a lot.
Kidzworld: We've heard that you want to do a big action role so might
you use that training soon in a movie?
Zac: Maybe, yeah. That would be cool but I don't know if I'd really be
doing it. In driving movies, I feel like you don't do most of the driving.
Kidzworld: Speaking of driving, when you go cruisin' around town and are
recognized, what is the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?
Zac: You know those Star Tours vans that drive all over town with the
tops cut off so tourists are just right there in the open? I pulled up
to one of those and didn't realize I was next to one. I had my windows
rolled down and I was bumpin' music and I heard a faint yell. I'm like
'What was that?' And I look up and realize I'm next to a big bus and the
whole Star Tours van was goin' nuts, freaking out. I just looked up and
said 'Wazzup?' That was pretty funny.
Kidzworld: What is your biggest guilty pleasure that might not be too
healthy and might blow all the amazing work you've done on your body
lately [is he blushing?].
Zac: [smiling] Hummm. Well we go to the movies a lot and I just love
buttered popcorn. Whatever that stuff really is on there, I could drink
it straight [he laughs]. It's good.
Kidzworld: We know you will be the voice of Anakin Skywalker on "Robot
Chicken" but which of these future projects for your new production
company Ninjas Runnin' Wild Productions are you looking most forward to:
Art of the Steal, Einstein Theory, Fire or Snabba Cash?
Zac: All of them are very different and they are all in different stages
of development. We have a lot of scripts coming in and I have to get to
those really soon so we'll see. We don't know which one is going to come
together first yet.
Zac keeps the old picture we took of him and is looking at it when we leave.
Lynn Barker, an editor and entertainment journalist for several websites, magazines and newspapers, has been active in the entertainment industry for many years.
Have Your Say
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