There’s a bit of a theme to this month’s Portrait. We’ve been focusing on growing up, maturing, and doing it with integrity. Specifically, we’ve highlighted a few celebrities who are growing with their fans. Zac Efron is one of those people. One of those who is breaking free of just a teen star to an adult actor but doing it without breaking ties with fans.

Zac in the first High School Musical with on and offscreen girlfriend, Vanessa Hudgens.

I don’t have to tell you who Zac Efron is. Most of the world became aware of Zac when he shot to fame as the breakout star of High School Musical. Tween & teen girls turned him into an instant heartthrob. The rest acknowledged his presence but seemed to have an attitude of here today, gone tomorrow as far as Zac’s stardom went. But Zac wasn’t interested in being a blip on the radar.

Zac played a young Simon on Joss Whedon’s “Firefly”.

High School Musical wasn’t even the beginning for that matter. Zac started out with small roles on shows like ER and Firefly. (The fact that he was on Firefly makes him one of my favorite actors easily, especially since its been considered one of the best shows that was canceled too early.) He was also on the WB’s Summerland. Still, High School Musical took Zac from guest star to starring role. The rest of the story is pretty familiar. Zac followed his fame as Troy Bolton with two more installments of the High School Musical movies and the role of Link Larkin in Hairspray. Off camera, he and long term girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens (known to fans as Zanessa) became Young Hollywood’s example of a perfect couple.

Zac in 17 Again

That’s all well and good but High School Musical is over and the singing stopped. Zac’s moved on past the Disney Channel but he’s not trying to dump the squeaky clean image overnight. Zac’s first roles after High School Musical were that of Mike O’Donnell in 17 Again and Richard Samuels in Me and Orson Wells. The two were very different movies but very smart choices. 17 Again was a movie geared towards a younger audience, specifically those under 30, but more importantly it was a movie that would show if Zac could carry a movie on his own. Troy may have been one of the main roles for High School Musical but Disney has a built in fanbase. 17 Again was a chance for Zac to prove to the studios that he could bring in a paying crowd. Me and Orson Wells on the other hand, gave Zac a chance to prove his acting chops. That’s not to say 17 Again wasn’t well acted, but it wasn’t quite the serious role as when he played Richard Samuels.

This was one of the ads for Zac’s Saturday Night Live appearance.

We see that evident as well when Zac hosted Saturday Night Live. Most people know that if you aren’t willing to make fun of yourself and the work you’ve done, you won’t be a success on Saturday Night Live. But younger stars have to be careful. Over time, those actors and actresses who have large teen fanbases have gotten themselves in trouble on the hit comedy show. They try to appeal to the adult jokes that are so common on SNL but end up offending their fans. Those fans have a lot of power. Zac found a good balance. He joked about High School Musical, in a clever sketch about how no one sings in college but kept the serious mocking to skits about himself. It showed adults that he wasn’t a diva but humble enough to make fun of himself. Keeping the High School Musical jokes light showed Zac’s fans that he took pride in his work and cared about it, it wasn’t just a job to be made fun of later.

Zac has always made time for his fans.

That attitude of caring about the fans has carried over in Zac’s personal life as well. He has been known to spend extra time greeting and visiting with fans. Zac himself has stated that while he tended to be a fan of sports stars over actors, either way he still knows what its like to be a fan. For that reason, he’ll never dismiss his fans. It’s an attitude like that which is why Zac isn’t just a teen heartthrob anymore. He’s an actor to be loved by fans from any generation.