Zac Efron is an American actor who began his career in the early 2000s with guest roles on several television series including Firefly, ER, and The Guardian. After his career took off with his leading role as Troy Bolton in the High School Musical trilogy, Efron starred in several other teen-oriented films including Hair Spray and 17 Again.
Zac Efron has had a long string of successful television shows since he began acting. Efron starred as Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile and also has a documentary on Netflix called Down to Earth with Zac Efron. Here are Zac Efron’s 10 best movies, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
10 High School Musical 3: Senior Year – 64%
High School Musical 3: Senior Year is the third installment of the High School Musical film series. The sequel follows Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and Gabriella Montez, who are high school sweethearts that are struggling with the idea of being separated from one another after graduation as they are about to head off to college.
Troy wants to attend the nearby University of Albuquerque on a basketball scholarship, however, Gabriella wants to attend Stanford University in California. Meanwhile, Sharpay, a shallow and spoiled rich girl, attempts to go all out planning the school’s final musical show. The Wildcats, Troy, and Gabriella stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes, and fears about their future.
9 Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising – 64%
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising is the sequel to the 2014 film, Neighbors. The film centers around Mac Radner and Kelly Radner, who are expecting their second child and are preparing to sell their home to the Baiers family. The Radner’s realtor reminds Mac and Kelly that the house is in escrow for 30 days so the Baiers will check in occasionally to make sure everything is going to plan.
Meanwhile, a group of unruly freshmen girls of Kappa Nu moves next door to Mac and Kelly. With the loud parties threatening the sale of their home, Mac and Kelly turn to Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron) to help. Their old enemy and ex-neighbor help devise schemes to get the wild sorority girls off the block, however, the women refuse to go down without a fight.
8 Gold – 65%
Gold is a 2022 Australian survival thriller film that was directed by Anthony Hayes. Two drifters Virgil (Zac Efron) and Keith are traveling through the desert when they stumble across the biggest gold nugget ever found. Dreams of immense wealth and greed take over, and they make a plan to secure the necessary tools.
After the duo fails to extract the gold with their basic tools and truck, Keith suggests one of them stay with the gold while the other finds an excavator. Virgil argues that he should be the one to stay with the gold instead since he found it. Keith then leaves Virgil with his remaining supplies and sets out to find an excavator. While Keith is gone, Virgil begins to deteriorate both physically and mentally.
7 High School Musical – 67%
High School Musical is a musical television film that was directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. The film follows Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez, who are two completely different teenagers who meet while they are singing karaoke at a New Year’s Eve party. Troy is the basketball team captain and Gabriella is academically gifted and joins the scholastic decathlon team.
After returning to school after a break, Troy sees Gabriella in his homeroom, and she explains to him that she is a new student there who has transferred from Albuquerque New Mexico. The two of them become close friends and accidentally audition for the school musical. When both Troy and Gabriella receive callbacks, Sharpay becomes furious.
6 Liberal Arts – 71%
Liberal Arts is a comedy-drama film that was written and directed by Josh Radnor. The film follows a 35-year-old named Jesse Fisher, an admissions officer at a New York City post-secondary institution, who has a romantic relationship with a 19-year-old college student, Zibby.
Jesse is invited to the retirement dinner of his second-favorite Ohio University college professor, Peter Hoberg. While at the retirement dinner, Jesse encounters Nat (Zac Efron), a free spirit who navigates life at the institution on his own terms.
Later, Zibby invites Jesse back to campus, hinting that she has feelings for him. Jesse has concerns about the 16-year age gap but agrees, and the two spend time together and kiss. However, Peter sees them together and encourages Jesse to date women his own age.
5 Neighbors – 73%
Neighbors is a comedy film that was directed by Nicholas Stoller and written by Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien. The film stars Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, and Rose Byrne with supporting roles from Dave Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
Mac and Kelly are attempting to adjust to life with their infant daughter, Stella. When frat brothers move into the house next door, conflict arises when the noise from the fraternity doesn’t stop. Teddy (Zac Efron) is the President, and Pete is his right-hand man. Mac asks Teddy if they can lower the fraternity’s noise and even accepts an invitation to a party one evening.
However, when Teddy goes back on his word about keeping the partying down, Mac calls the police to deal with the problem. The police blame Mac for their presence, and an all-out war begins.
4 High School Musical 2 – 83%
High School Musical 2 is the second installment of the High School Musical film series. The film stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman.
Troy lands a job in a wealthy country club owned by Sharpay and Ryan’s family and ends up landing jobs for Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, and the entire Wildcats basketball team. When Troy is introduced to Sharpay’s parents, Troy realizes that Sharpay can help him with many opportunities and even a basketball scholarship.
Meanwhile, Troy starts hanging out with a different crowd and Chad worries that Troy will forget his friends while Gabriella feels as though she is losing Troy to Sharpay.
3 Me and Orson Welles – 86%
Me and Orson Welles is a drama film directed by Richard Linklater and is based on Robert Kaplow’s novel. The story is set in New York in 1937 and is about a teenager who is hired to perform in Orson Welles’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar who becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant.
Richard Samuels (Zac Efron) takes a day trip to New York City and meets Gretta Adler where they begin a friendship based on their shared love and goal as a professional in the creative arts. While on this trip, Richard comes across the Mercury Theatre and meets Orson Welles who offers Richard an acting job as Lucius in his modern retelling of Julius Caesar.
2 The Disaster Artist- 91%
The Disaster Artist is a biographical comedy-drama film that stars, co-produced, and was directed by James Franco. The film follows an unlikely friendship between aspiring actors Tommy Wiseau and Sestero that results in the production of Wiseau’s 2003 film The Room, which was considered one of the worst films ever made. The film stars brothers James and Dave Franco as Wiseau and Sestero, respectively.
Aspiring actor Greg Sestero befriends the eccentric Tommy Wiseau. The two travel to L.A., and when Hollywood rejects them, Tommy decides to write, direct, produce, and star in their own movie. During the making of their film, Tommy is impressed with Dan’s (Zac Efron) intensity during the scene where Chris violently presses Denny for money owed to him.
1 Hairspray- 92%
Hairspray is a musical romantic comedy film that is based on the 2002 Broadway musical. The film was directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman and has an ensemble cast including John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, Zac Efron, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Elijah Kelley, Allison Janney, and Nikki Blonsky.
In the 1960s, Tracy Turnblad an optimistic dance-loving teen auditions for a spot on “The Corny Collins Show” and gets the part. Several of the teenagers on The Corny Collins Show attend Tracy and Penny’s high school. Tracy is particularly star-struck whenever she catches the sight of Link Larkin (Zac Efron), the show’s main lead who is also Amber Von Tussle’s boyfriend.
