Hollywood heartthrob Zac Efron: The American actor through the years

Zac Efron began his Hollywood acting career in TV shows and landed substantial movie rolls in the early 2000s. Efron dated several co-stars including Vanessa Hudgens and Lily Collins.

Zac Efron, first known for appearing in the 2006 film "High School Musical," was born in 1987. He has appeared in several films following his Disney Channel original movie debut. (John Fleenor/ABC via Getty Images) Before his successful movie career, Efron acted in several TV shows in the early 2000s including "Firefly," "Summerland," "Suite Life of Zack and Cody," and "Entourage."  (Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic) Zac Efron reprised the role of Troy Bolton in "High School Musical 2" and "High School Musical 3." The trilogy was produced from 2006-2008. (Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage) Zac Efron dated "High School Musical" co-star Vanessa Hudgens after playing on-screen couple, Troy and Gabriella. The pair was together for five years before breaking up in 2010. Efron and Hudgens were photographed together in 2022 outside of East High, sparking rumors of another "High School Musical" project. (Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic) Zac Efron has appeared in other films including "Baywatch," "Dirty Grandpa," "Neighbors," and more. He has acted alongside Robert De Niro, Seth Rogen, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and other well-known Hollywood actors. (Gregg DeGuire/WireImage) Efron starred as notorious serial killer Ted Bundy alongside his ex-girlfriend Lily Collins in Netflix’s 2019 film "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile." (Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb) Zac Efron has been linked to Hollywood actresses including Alexandra Daddario and Halston Sage, Olympic swimmer Sarah Bro, and model Vanessa Valladares. (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures) In 2020, Netflix premiered a web series titled "Down to Earth" starring Zac Efron. The series encircled Efron's world travels. He produced, starred, and narrated in the docuseries. He won an Emmy in 2021 for "Outstanding Daytime Program Host" for the project. A second season is set to be released in 2022. (Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for AT&T) "Gold," a thriller film released in 2022, is one of Efron's newest projects. The movie was filmed in South Australia and starred Australian actors Susie Porter and Anthony Hayes. The stars went through exhausting conditions filming. Efron broke his hand but kept it a secret until production was finished. (Nancy Rivera/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images) The "Greatest Showman" actor has several upcoming movies and projects including a TV series titled "Killing Zac Efron," a film "The Greatest Beer Run Ever," and an unnamed rom-com alongside Nicole Kidman. (Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for AT&T)