Zac Efron looked nearly unrecognizable on the set of EW’s cover shoot for his new film “The Iron Claw,” leaving fans shocked at his appearance.
In the new A24 biopic, the 36-year-old actor plays the legendary Fritz Von Erich aka Jack Adkisson, a professional wrestler who rose to fame in the 1960s.
To portray a member of the Von Erich wrestling family, Efron went to great lengths to get into shape for the role.
“I started intermittent fasting just after I stopped being vegan,” Efron told Men’s Health. “My body wasn’t processing the vegetables in the right way.”
“So, I decided to stop it and try something new,” he added. “Intermittent fasting has been really helpful with that.”
But it wasn’t Efron’s newly sculpted rippling pectorals that had the internet talking. When a clip in between takes from the EW cover shoot hit Instagram and X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), fans were stunned with one user asking, “What happened to his face?”
“[He] looks like Prince Farquhar in Shrek,” said pickle1253, alluding to Efron’s prominent jawline.
“Damn his face doesn’t even move now,” added robbyrob82.
“‘Shrek’ live action? Omg,” pedroouropretoconsultor quipped.
“What happened to his face??” said luisb545.
“Growth hormone has wrecked his jaw/lips,” declared nickridley17.
“Omg Zach, what happened to You?!” asked clardina06.
One fan tried to explain Efron’s new look and hoped to end any negative comments before they could begin.
“Before everyone comments about it,” wrote taylor.brwn, “Z said that his jaw shattered in an accident and he had to get it restructured which is supposedly why it looks different now.”
In an interview with September 2022 interview with People, Efron addressed rumors he had plastic surgery and revealed that he broke his jaw in 2013, causing the masseters muscles in his face and jaw to enlarge.
“They just got really,” Efron recalled, “really big.”
Still fans weren’t convinced that the actor wasn’t botched and let their opinions be known
“False narrative once again,” kyle_v25 wrote. “His accident was in 2013! Please learn the facts or stop making excuses for him lol”
Despite his evolving appearance, one commenter confessed that she was still a fan of the “High School Musical” star.
“I think he still look hot 🔥,” said purplepinklexi.
“The Iron Claw,” starring Efron, Jeremy Allen White, and Harris Dickinson opens in theaters everywhere on December 22.