50 interesting facts about Zac Efron: Was offered a record deal by Simon Cowell but declined

Zac Efron is a a talented and handsome actor who has appeared in movies and on television, most notably in the High School Musical films.

1. His full name is Zachary David Alexander Efron.

2. He was born on , October 18th, 1987 in San Luis Obispo, California.

3. "Efron" means "lark" -- a type of bird -- in Hebrew. The actor's paternal great grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland.

4. His father is an electrical engineer at a power station, and his mother is a secretary who previously worked at the same powerplant as his father.

5. His favorite sports include golf, skiing, rock climbing, snowboarding, and surfing.

6. Some of his favorite cereals include Kashi, Granola, Honey Nut Cheerios & Quaker Oats.

7. Zac is 5'9″ tall.

8. His most prized possession is his autographed baseball collection.

9. His parents started taking him to singing lessons at the age of 11 and he soon landed a role in the production of "Gypsy" which ran for 90 performances.

10. His favorite movie is "The Goonies" (1985).

11. When Zac was a kid he had a poster of supermodel, Tyra Banks on his bedroom ceiling. He got it out of his mom's Victoria Secret's catalog book.

12. While using scissors in the fifth grade, he accidentally cut off one of his eyebrows. He promptly cut of the other one so he could look symmetrical.

13. He had his first kiss when he was in 7th grade while playing the game "Truth or Dare!"

14. Zac then got roles on stage in "Peter Pan," "Mame," "Little Shop of Horrors" and "The Music Man."

15. His first roles on TV were as guest parts in shows like Firefly, ER and The Guardian.

16. After guest-starring in several episodes of "Summerland," he joined the regular cast as girl-crazy Cameron Bale.

17. One of his favorite movies is Dumb and Dumber and no matter how many times he watches it, he always finds it funny.

18. Zac Efron also starred in several pilots such as "The Big, Wide World of Carl Laemke" and "Triple Play."

19. Zac plays the piano. The first song that he learned how to play was Heart And Soul.

20. In 2005, Efron got the lead role in a Disney Channel film called High School Musical. The movie was originally intended to just be a one time thing, but it proved so popular that Disney turned it into a movie franchise. Due to this role, Zac earned international fame.

21. Zac and Vanessa Anne Hudgens won Best TV Chemistry at the 2006 Teen Choice Awards.

22. Not all of Zac Efron's vocals in High School Musical belong to him. "I didn't even sing on the first album," Efron tells Rolling Stone. "It wasn't my voice in the movie. Even though I wanted to do it...I felt extremely guilty."

23. The High School Musical soundtrack generates five Top 40 singles, sells some 4 million copies, and becomes the first TV show soundtrack to land at No. 1 in SoundScan's history. Efron and Hudgens' "Breaking Free" shoots from No. 86 to No. 4, becoming Billboard's biggest chart climber to date.

24. He met his girlfriend, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, on the set of High School Musical.

25. After the popularity of "High School Musical," Efron was forced to change his phone number after receiving numerous calls from fans.

26. All the guys that starred in the High School Musical got class rings that said "Wildcats" on them and are made of gold with rubies.

27. Since his singing is so good, Zac was offered a record deal by Simon Cowell, but declined, saying, "Acting is my main priority."

28. He was accepted into the University of Southern California, but deferred his enrollment to continue acting.

29. In 2007, he starred in the music video for Vanessa Hudgens's single "Say OK." The actors were dating at the time, resulting in Efron playing Hudgen's love interest in the video.

30. Zac was rushed to the hospital on January 15th, 2008 with appendicitis and had to have his appendix removed.

31. In 2009, Efron voiced several roles on Cartoon Network's "Robot Chicken," a hit show co-created by Seth Green.

32. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens broke up in 2006 after being dating for almost 5 years.

33. In 2012, Efron got "Punk'd" by Hayden Panettiere, thinking he was getting arrested for a hit and run he did not commit. This was not his first time as he previously got "Punk'd" in 2007, following the success of "High School Musical."

34. His favorite city in the world is London.

35. He was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, which dubbed him "The New American Heartthrob" in 2007.

36. In the article, Zac shared that revealed he wished to one day play an action hero.

37. If Zac could swap lives with anyone, he says he would like to be the Queen of England.

38. He gets starstruck whenever he sees Angelina Jolie. According to Zac, he turns into a "fifth grader" in her presence.

39. Zac has a dogtag necklace which he is often spotted wearing. It was a gift from his friend and crush, Paula Abdul - it says "Reach for the Stars" on the front and "You might just become one!" on the back.

40. Zac's favorite TV shows are "American Idol" and the "World Series of Poker."

41. Efron was slated to star in Paramount's musical remake of the film Footloose, and has said that he would like to add his "own little bit of flair" to the role originated by Kevin Bacon. In March 2009, he dropped out of the film. Efron was quoted as saying that while it was a promising gig, he left the project because he "was looking for a new challenge, and this was another musical.

42. Efron has an autographed baseball collection with signatures from every San Francisco Giants player of the past 10 years.

43. Efron reportedly learned to ride a motorcycle from Tom Cruise after the two bumped into each other at a party.

44. Zac likes to start the day off with a morning jog.

45. If Zac could choose to be any animal he would be a kangaroo.

46. Some of Zac's favorite musicians are The Postal Service, The Shins, The Gorillaz, and John Mayer.

47. In 2012, he voiced Teg Wiggins in The Lorax and starred in The Lucky One, a film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name.

    
    

48. The same year, he also appeared in three independent films: he played leading roles in The Paperboy, alongside Nicole Kidman and John Cusack, and At Any Price, with Dennis Quaid, and had a supporting part in director Josh Radnor's Liberal Arts.

49. Efron sought treatment in early 2013 after struggling with alcoholism and substance abuse. He has been sober for six months as of December 2013.

50. Efron's net worth is valued at $18 million.