Zac Efron is no stranger to the gym, that’s for sure. Going from skinny teenage heartthrob to ripped beach dude in 2017’s Baywatch, he’s not afraid to do the work. I mean, would you not also hit the weights if you were starring alongside Dwayne The Rock Johnson? Of course, you would!
But Efron seems to have seriously stepped on the gas for his next role. He was playing Kevin Von Erich, one of three brothers from a family of American wrestlers who made a massive lasting impact on the world of wrestling.
Still from The Iron Claw – Credit: A24
With A24 on board and Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson co-starring as Efron’s wrestling brothers, this is shaping up to be the best wrestling movie since Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler.
While Efron looks in phenomenal shape, many have speculated if the actor is doing things in the healthiest way he can. He has opened up recently about the toll it took on his body to achieve such an ‘unattainable’ look. Telling Men’s Health, “That Baywatch looks, I don’t know if that’s attainable. There’s just too little water in the skin.” and discussing the drastic measures he took, “And that required Lasix, powerful diuretics, to achieve.”
Diuretics rid the body of water and salt to achieve an intimate and more ripped look, but they can also wreak havoc on your body if you overdo it. Many professional bodybuilders use them before a show to achieve their tightest, dryest look. The only thing is, they can be extremely dangerous. When your body has such little water in it, muscles cramp. And your heart is a muscle too. Many bodybuilders have died on stage after such an intense water-ridding process, and many speculate this is heart-cramping.
Credit: Baywatch (2017)
Efron has expressed that he is done with transforming his body to such degrees and is more interested in transforming his mind to tackle a diverse range of characters. This is true. Efron has come a long way since his High School Musical days. He’s portrayed one of the world’s most notorious serial killers, Ted Bundy; he’s co-starred in the Oscar-nominated musical The Greatest Showman and recently starred in Apple Tv+’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever. On top of this, he has presented his reality TV documentary, Down to Earth, where he travels the world searching for healthy, sustainable ways to live.
Another talking point around Efron recently is the change in his face structure. His jaw has changed dramatically, becoming much more pronounced and rugged looking. Efron had put this down to an accident a few years back when he slipped and smashed his face on the corner of a fountain, debunking any rumors of plastic surgery.
With all of this in view, knowing the extremes Efron will go to for a role, like any celebrity who gets into next-level shape, other rumors will likely flow. While he has never admitted to any use of performance-enhancing drugs, he has now surpassed his Baywatch look and bulked his frame to an impressive peak. However, after telling Men’s Health of his struggles before his Baywatch physique, suffering from insomnia and depression, it seems unlikely he would now mess with any hormone-altering drugs.
In a world so focused on how we look, celebrities need to open up as Efron did. With social media giving people a false representation of life at times, it can be easy for people to look at a celeb’s physique and feel insecure or not good enough. By speaking out as he did, Efron gives the younger generation a view of what’s essential. So often, actors go to extremes for a role because they are so dedicated to their work, whether it be bulking up, slimming down, or going the full Christian Bale effect (i.e., The Machinist). But it’s doubtful they would do this if they didn’t have a reason.
Outside of his roles, Efron settles into a more relaxed look. He stays in shape but doesn’t push himself to extremes because, as he said, it is simply not sustainable. Who knows, he may be asked to lose his muscle for a role in the future. Or gain a few lbs of fat, even. And with the level of dedication he brings to his work, this would not be surprising.
Here’s to years more of the evolution of Efron. We are excited at what’s to come, and who knows, maybe one day he will have a shiny gold statue to show for all of his hard work!
Credit: Firestarter (2022)
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