Zac Efron has taken on a few films since the "High School Musical" trilogy that made him a star, but the likes of "Hairspray" and "17 Again" weren't that much of a stretch from the Disney teen genre.
In 2008, Zac filmed "Me and Orson Welles," which received limited release in 2009, but today's "Charlie St. Cloud" is his first big step away from the films that had previously defined him.
What might surprise people is that Zac made the move for his fans, and not for himself. "I was trying to figure that out for so long," he admitted recently to MTV. "'What do the fans want to see?' I could do another musical. I could stick to my guns and try to do more of that. Try and do another cool musical and try to stick with that genre. Is that really what the fans want to see? I mean everyone is like, 'How can you make that transition? How are you going to get the fans to follow you into this new kind of stuff?'"
From his perspective, Zac said that it was his responsibility to the fans to make films that are relevant to their lives, instead of assuming that it was their responsibility to follow him. He said that the only way he knew to do that was to stay "a little bit ahead of the audience" and to make films about what he experiences in his life.
"By the time the audience catches up, and maybe realizes that life isn't always like 'High School Musical.' Maybe they will have a movie that helps them through that next challenge that they face in life," he said. "I don't want to look back and just say, 'I just made movies because it was fun.' You know? I want to make movies because it's challenging and it's an opportunity to help people. Otherwise it's, just, you know kind of selfish I think."
Do you appreciate the way Zac determines what kind of films he chooses to be a part of? What type of film would you like to see him tackle next?
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