It’s been two months since Zac Efron‘s famed “tussle” with a homeless man in the Skid Row section of Los Angeles, but he’s finally opening up with the details of that night — as well as confronting his addiction to drugs and alcohol — in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Any fair weather fan would know that Efron’s life isn’t all pec workouts and dildo fights. As a former child star, he’s had to deal with some “humiliating” moments in a very public way (he spent some time last year in rehab for cocaine abuse). “I wouldn’t take anything back,” he says. “I needed to learn everything I did.”
On love:
Currently single, he speaks of “the struggles of dating, of falling in love, of searching for love and being there for your friends when they need you. There’s no question that to receive anything great, like love or respect, or to better yourself, you have to give a piece of yourself away.”
On his workout regimen:
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He has the type of regimen that makes older men weep — working out daily, eating healthily and even drinking pH-balanced water from a specially installed alkaline faucet.
He gets ready for bed around 9 p.m., when he’ll watch a movie and read a script, turning in before some of his peers even rise because “I like to get up early and swim and train.”
On addiciton:
He has joined Alcoholics Anonymous and also has been seeing a therapist. “I just started going,” he says. “And I think it’s changed my life. I’m much more comfortable in my own skin. Things are so much easier now.”
Still, he admits of his battle with addiction, “It’s a never-ending struggle.”
The interview, which FYI compares Efron’s “struggle” to that of Judy Garland and Lindsay Lohan, does a perfect job of painting him as a misunderstood child actor; one who’s learned a great deal from his work and has real potential to pivot his childhood acting stint into an adult career:
Insiders say Efron took a major pay cut to make the film in exchange for a heftier share of the back end (sources say he can get around $5 million a picture, but he often has cut his salary to do work that challenges him). Since then, he has received a surge of offers based on strong word of mouth about his performance but has opted not to shoot anything.
He is trying to shed an unwanted skin, cleanse himself mentally and physically, purge a past that has come to haunt him. A self-described insomniac, he acknowledges wrestling with anxiety (“100 percent”) and being plagued by “thoughts, just thoughts, just overthinking things.”
And finally, his version of events the night he broke his hand trying to “disarm” a homeless man with a knife. According to early accounts, he was stranded near Skid Row after his car “ran out of gas.”
“I had a friend come pick me up late at night — we were looking for a place downtown to get a bite and catch up,” he says, without identifying the friend. “We were having trouble finding somewhere — a lot of places were closed — and the car ran out of gas off the 110. It was ridiculous. We had to pull over, and I called Uber.”
While waiting, “A homeless guy, or vagrant, tapped on the driver’s-side window. Before I knew it, he [the friend] was out of the car, and they started fighting. I saw that [the homeless man] was carrying some sort of a knife, or shank, and I got out of the car to disarm him. At some point, he dropped the knife, and I got hit pretty hard in the face — and almost instantly the police were there to break up the fight.” After that, the two friends went home. Efron calls it “the most terrifying moment in my life.”
And, oh yeah — he’s still hot AF:
barkomatic
I find it hard to believe that he had the focus to maintain his level of fitness while at the same time struggling with alcohol and drugs. One doesn’t go on a bender, stay up late and then go work out. I just wonder if he went through a really stressful patch in his life, maybe temporarily drank a little too much — and overreacted to it. AA is hard core, and really should be a last resort. He might have done just as well to go see a therapist and cut back.
Nevertheless, I’m glad he is feeling better.
B Damion
I have always like Zac and hoped that he would grow into a well rounded young man.
I just happen to be a realist. That being said, issh happens. We all have our own cross to bear. I am an addicted myself. I am just addicted to food..lol. So thats my issue.
Finally, this interview with Zac seemed a little scripted, but I think overall he’s a good kid that has unfortunately become another hollywood cliche’
ingyaom
Beautiful face, but kind of boring photo shoot.
vive
@barkomatic, some drugs keeps you slim.
Spike
All set up by a publicist, including the questions that would be asked and what his answers would be. No reason to believe any of it.
The real Zack is still very much a user and a not very smart one . . .
barkomatic
@vive: Yeah, but he’s more than just slender–he’s muscular as well. That ain’t no crack body.
Tonez
I get why people find him hot but I’ve met guys in my real life who are hotter and could probably “act” just as mediocre. I hate how abs give dudes cred on sites like this. He is boring.
carey579
I like the photo-shoot.
At-least they put him in something other than the boring old three piece suit!
The picture of him laying down in tight outfits are really sexy <3
Mezaien
Gosh he is a very hot and beautiful man! no wonder we all love him.
Curtispsf
@barkomatic: I’ll forgive you, barky, because you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, no offense intended. Reaching out for help with drugs (and yeah, alcohol is our number one drug of abuse across the world) is the smartest thing any addict can do, whether it’s AA or somewhere else. Addiction is hard core; recovery isn’t, whatever it takes although recovery is a tough road.
No one knows what Zac’s journey is or just how far he “fell”. But let me tell you this, it is possible to be addicted to powder drugs and still have a phenomenal body. I have a friend who used to smoke meth before working out, he’d hop on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I told him he was out of his mind then. Got the support he needed at AA and now my friend is “back”. Most people wouldn’t have known he was an addict.
Seems to me Zac may have a few demons he’s wrestling with.
Daniel-Reader
I’d believe the sincerity but if he named the people who supply him the illegal drugs.
Daniel-Reader
…but only if…
muscl954
Montgomery Clift
middleagespread
Beautiful young man. His eyes seem sad in these photos. No spark or twinkle in them. The eyes tell a story all their own.
rickyboi7
Oh just come out already! Decaprio is too old, but you’re not.
Cam
You’d think that the publicist would have written a different script than the one that they handed to Winonna Rider, Tara Reid, Lindsay Lohan, etc…
felixthegato
Oh wow, this “interview” doesn’t sound scripted at all
*rolls eyes
Stop trying to make this poor kid happen. He needs to get his s*** together, not PR-BS
jonjct
@Spike: oh yes, spike, you read that right, Zac is still very much a user, you can spot that shizz a mile away. i get it, i am too, and i love him to pieces. i’d swallow.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Zacalicious………………..