Actor Zac Efron has faced accusations of undergoing plastic surgery, but the truth behind his new appearance lies in a tragic jaw accident.
Having found fame in the early 2000s as a teenage heartthrob thanks to his High School Musical, Zac Efron is now taking on more mature roles at age 36 in projects such as The Iron Claw, The Greatest Showman, and A Family Affair.
His latest role comes in the Netflix rom-com A Family Affair, in which he plays the self-absorbed Hollywood sensation Chris Cole.
Why Did Zac Efron Shatter His Face?
During an interview with Men's Health in October 2022, Zac Efron revealed he injured his face several years prior in a jaw accident at home. The actor explained he slipped while running through his house in socks, leading him to fall and hit his face off the granite corner of a fountain.
Efron revealed he lost consciousness on impact and awoke with his chin bone dangling from his face, kickstarting a long recovery process. He also told Entertainment Tonight about the severity of his injuries and how he "almost died."
To aid his recovery from the injury, the High School Musical star explained how certain facial muscles grew significantly due to these exercises, saying, “The masseters just grew. They just got really, really big.”
He added that as facial muscles work "like a symphony," certain parts had to compensate for others weakened due to the injury, explaining how these larger muscles led to his enlarged jawline.
Has Zac Efron Had Plastic Surgery?
Fans have been questioning whether Zac Efron has had plastic surgery for several years now after his jawline saw a major change in shape. However, it appears these changes can be attributed exclusively to the recovery from his facial injury.
Before the Disney star finally revealed details of his jaw injury to Men's Health, many had speculated Efron had gone under the knife with plastic surgery.
During the same sit-down, Efron spoke about how he only discovered the plastic surgery allegations until his mother questioned him on them. He told how he "wouldn't be able to do this work" if online gossip bothered as much as some think it does:
“If I valued what other people thought of me to the extent that they may think I do. I definitely wouldn’t be able to do this work.”
Celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Sam Zizk suggested to The New York Post that Efron may have "[taken] the opportunity" to "do something better" and undergone some "jaw advancements" during his injury recovery:
“He probably took the opportunity, in addition to correcting it, to do something better. He might have had jaw advancements where they pull the chin a little bit more forward because his chin looks a little bit more prominent. Or a chin implant or mandibular angle implants [in the lower jaw] or all of the above.”
He added that the actor now has "more of an arch" around his eyebrows, which may indicate he "had some type of brow lift or he had Botox:"
“He always had a straight eyebrow, and now they have more of an arch. His eyebrow is a little bit higher, which indicates he had some type of brow lift or he had Botox.”
Rizk noted Efron “most likely” had some filler injected into his cheeks as they usually "don't get fuller as you age:"
“Cheeks don’t get fuller as you age. You lose volume in the cheeks when you age. When he was younger he had a flatter cheek.”
A Family Affair was filmed from August to October 2022, right before he began production on A24's The Iron Claw that same month. As such, during the filming of the Netflix romcom, Efron was in the midst of a major physical transformation as he gained a reported 15 pounds of muscle to play wrestler Kevin Von Erich.
A Family Affair is streaming now on Netflix.
