Zac Efron has opened up about those viral photos that led to plastic surgery rumors.
Last year, Efron made a brief appearance in an Earth Day special hosted by Bill Nye.
While the video was supposed to raise awareness about climate change, a screengrab of the handsome actor looking bloated went viral on social media leading to speculation that he went under the knife for cosmetic surgery.
A friend of the actor, Australian radio host Kyle Sandilands denied that the actor had any work done.
“I would know if he’d had any plastic surgery,” the host said on his radio program, The Kyle and Jackie O Show. He then questioned why the aesthetically-blessed Hollywood star would bother changing his appearance.
“It’s like getting a Picasso and having a kid finger paint all over it Why bother?” he said at the time, per Daily Mail.
However, this wasn’t enough to shut down the rumors, and Zac Efron is speaking out for the first time.
Zac Efron reveals he shattered his jaw
In an interview with Men’s Health, Efron said that he broke his jaw after he slipped while running with socks on.
His jaw landed on the granite corner of a fountain, which led to the Baywatch star losing consciousness and waking up with his chin bone hanging off his face.
The 34-year-old actor explained that the masseter muscles in the jaw used for chewing had to compensate for his injury.
“The masseters just grew,” he said to the publication, continuing: “They just got really, really big.”
He then revealed he only found out he went viral after his mother called him about the photos last year.
In recent photos, the good-looking actor has appeared to return to his normal appearance. He recently shared the trailer for his latest movie, The Greatest Beer Run.
Zac Efron opens up about depression and insomnia from Baywatch role
In the same interview, Efron revealed that he is bulking up for a role, which we previously speculated was for his portrayal of Kevin Von Erich in the movie The Iron Claw. He recalled his extreme diet for Baywatch and his desire never to repeat it for health reasons.
The High School Musical alum said that he used water pills to help achieve his shredded physique.
“That Baywatch look, I don’t know if that’s really attainable. There’s just too little water in the skin. Like, it’s fake; it looks CGI’d,” he said, continuing:
“And that 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 revealed that he was overtraining and ate the same three meals every day. Zac Efron also shared that he developed insomnia and depression due to the diuretics but returned to himself six months after filming.