One year after fueling speculation about plastic surgery, Zac Efron has finally cleared the air regarding his facial change.
The actor said that he broke his jaw while sprinting in his house wearing socks in his October 2022 cover story for Men’s Health, which was released on Wednesday.
Efron, 34, said he slipped, hit the corner of a fountain, passed out and woke up to his “chin bone … hanging off” his face.
The “High School Musical” star worked with a physical therapist to stop his facial muscles from growing throughout his rehabilitation since they had grown “really, very huge” to make up for the injury.
The masseter [muscles] just expanded while Efron took a break in Australia, according to the former Disney Channel actor, who previously injured his jaw in 2013.
Fans initially spotted Zac Efron’s altered appearance in April 2021, which sparked speculation that he had undergone surgery.
His pal Kyle Sandilands disputed that Efron had any work done the following month.
On “The Kyle and Jackie O” radio program in May 2021, Sandilands said, “It’s like receiving a Picasso and having a toddler finger paint all over it.” “Why even bother? If he had undergone plastic surgery, I would be aware of it.
Efron’s mother, Starla Baskett, informed her son about the rumor of plastic surgery because he prefers to avoid social media.
The “17 Again” star said to Men’s Health, “I absolutely wouldn’t be able to perform this work if I appreciated what other people thought of me to the amount that they may think I do.”
More accidents were mentioned by Efron in other parts of the interview, but these happened while he was practicing, including a dislocated shoulder, torn ACL, fractured wrist, and blown-out back.
The “Hairspray” actor worked out frequently when filming “Baywatch,” but he now follows a thoughtful fitness regimen that includes yoga, stretching, and self-massage.
Efron told the magazine that the encounter left him with “insomnia” and a “black despair,” adding that the 2017 film “burned [him] out.”
The “Down to Earth with Zac Efron” star recalled, “I had a pretty hard time recentering. I didn’t feel better until six months after production was finished. In the end, they concluded that it was caused by abusing diuretics over an extended period of time.
Efron acknowledged having agoraphobia as well.
He said, describing “people in huge groups” as a “trigger” for his anxiety problem, which is characterized by a severe fear of going into crowded places, “I just don’t go out.”