Zac Efron Reveals The Reason Behind His Drastic Face Transformation

Zac Efron revealed the real reason behind his drastic face transformation in a new interview with Men's Health.

Back in April 2021, the internet went into a frenzy when the actor showed up in a clip promoting an Earth Day special from Bill Nye with a noticeable change to his appearance. The outlet dubbed the occurrence "Jaw-gate" due to fans thinking the actor had plastic surgery done to his face after watching the clip. Efron cleared the rumors up in the interview, stating that the reason for the sudden change in his looks was a shattered jaw. He explained that while running through his house in socks, he slipped and smacked his chin against the granite corner of a fountain. After waking up from losing consciousness, he noticed his "chin bone was hanging off his face."

Later in the interview, the actor described how the injury affected his masseter muscles — which are used for chewing and work jointly with the rest of the face muscles “like a symphony." According to Men's Health, after the injury "the muscles on the inside of his face and jaw had to compensate." Although he undergoes physical therapy for the injury, he took time off from it while in Australia. “The masseters just grew,” he shared. “They just got really, really big.”

Efron reportedly didn't hear about "Jaw-Gate" until his mother asked him about it after seeing the rumors of plastic surgery on social media —which he avoids. “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," he said.