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A beloved Disney star who has gone on to embrace a successful Hollywood career is being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Credit: Canva
On Monday, December 11, 2023, actor Zac Efron will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star will unveiled in a ceremony at begins at 11:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. The star ceremony will be live-streamed on the Walk of Fame website.
Efron will be honored with a star in the Motion Pictures category, which will be located at 6426 Hollywood Boulevard. He joins more than 2,500 other celebrities, fictional characters, singers, actors, and actresses who have had a star placed on the walk over the years, including Ellen K, Kermit the Frog, Walt Disney, Nicole Kidman, Trisha Yearwood, Taylor Swift, Courteney Cox, Jimi Hendrix, Charlie Chaplin, Jennifer Aniston, Luciano Pavarotti, and more.
Zac Efron/Credit: Walk of Fame
Zac Efron Begins Acting
Zac Efron, 36, began his career at the Pacific Coast Performing Arts Center, but he stepped into acting when he was in his early teens. He reached a turning point that would serve as a springboard for his career when he starred in Disney’s High School Musical in 2006, playing the male lead role of Troy Bolton, a star high school basketball player who struggles with keeping his head in the game when he meets a new girl.
Zac Efron as Troy Bolton in Disney’s “High School Musical” (2006)
The film was wildly successful, and two sequels followed–High School Musical 2 (2007) and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008). Efron’s role helped him to gain notoriety among teen audiences and ultimately led to other roles outside of Disney.
READ ALSO: Before His Death, Actor Matthew Perry Chose Zac Efron For a Very Special Role
“High School Musical 2” (2007)/Credit: Walt Disney Pictures
Next, Efron starred in 17 Again (2009) opposite the late Matthew Perry. In 2011, he appeared as part of an ensemble cast in director Garry Marshall’s New Year’s Eve (2011), which was a huge box office success. Efron’s other films include Liberal Arts (2012), The Paperboy (2012), The Lorax (2012), and The Lucky One (2012), in which he played the male lead in a story based on the novel by the same name by author Nicholas Sparks.
READ ALSO: “Friends” Actor Matthew Perry, Dead at 54
Efron then worked on two independent films in 2013 before starring in the romantic comedy That Awkward Moment (2014). He also served as executive producer in the film.
Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan in “That Awkward Moment” (2014)/Credit: Focus Features Films
Efron also starred in Neighbors in 2014, a film that served to prove to Hollywood that Efron had left his “Disney actor” persona behind.
Later, Efron played a supporting role in two films that were released in December 2017–The Disaster Artist, starring actor James Franco, and The Greatest Showman, starring Hugh Jackman. Both films were nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture in a Musical or Comedy.
Zac Efron and Zendaya in “The Greatest Showman” (2017)/Credit: Disney/21st Century Studios
Two years later, Zac Efron embodied the role of serial killer Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) before going on to voice Fred Jones in the Warner Bros. animated film Scoob! (2020).
Awards and Accolades
In 2008, Zac Efron won the MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance, and in 2009, he won the same award in the category of Best Male Performance. He also has multiple People’s Choice, Teen Choice, and Kids’ Choice Awards to his name. In 2016, Efron won CinemaCon’s Comedy Star of the Year.
In 2021, Efron won a Daytime Emmy Award for his work as host in Season One of the Netflix web documentary series titled Down to Earth with Zac Efron, and he was nominated for the same award for Season Two of the show.
A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
On December 11, Efron will finally have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“We are thrilled to honor actor Zac Efron, who began his career as a Disney alum and has reinvented himself as a leading man by playing a wide variety of great roles,” stated Ana Martinez, Producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “What a way to end our year of star ceremonies with this very popular and gifted actor!”
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce oversees the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame for the City of Los Angeles. Millions of people visit the cultural landmark annually–and have since its inception in 1960.
Zac Efron’s star will be the 2,767th star to be dedicated on the Walk of Fame.
This post is originally appeared on Disney Dining.
