Efron struggles to shed his teen-idol reputation

By Amy Kaufman

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES

The lights were down low in a movie theater, and up on the screen Zac Efron was about to kiss a girl when a collection of shrill “oohs” and “aahs” interrupted the intimate moment.

With “Charlie St. Cloud,” now out, Efron tackles his first commercially dramatic role — a move that signals his desire to leave behind his reputation as a teen heartthrob. But considering his very vocal fans at the film’s premiere in Los Angeles last week, it may take more than just one film to make the break.

“I think that happens in a lot of movies,” Efron said, shrugging off the hooting and hollering while sitting on the patio of a Sunset Strip hotel beside director Burr Steers a few days after the premiere.

“With ‘Twilight’ too, I think. They work themselves up,” added Steers. “But you saw — with Zac, he gets, like, a Beatles reaction.”

Nowadays, the attention barely seems to faze Efron, 22, a veteran of the screaming-girl circuit. His roles in the three “High School Musical” movies and a film remake of the Broadway musical “Hairspray” ingratiated him with the tween set, who again came out for last year’s comedy “17 Again” (also directed by Steers). But Efron’s first turn in a drama — playing a young actor in the 2009 period piece “Me & Orson Welles” — didn’t resonate with audiences, perhaps at least partly because the Richard Linklater film got only a nominal theatrical release.

In “Charlie St. Cloud,” based on a novel by Ben Sherwood, Efron plays the titular character grappling with the death of his younger brother, Sam. As he struggles with his grief, Sam’s ghost appears, and the brothers head nightly to a forest to talk and play catch. But then Charlie meets Tess, played by Amanda Crew, and he’s forced to weigh his romantic feelings against his attachment to his brother.

Marc Platt, who produced the film, didn’t always envision Efron in the part. The two first met a few years ago, during the “High School Musical” days, when Platt was struck largely by Efron’s youth.

“I thought he was a real kid. Not used to the meetings — clearly sweet and lovely — but very, very youthful,” the producer recalled.

But when Efron came in to discuss “Charlie St. Cloud,” Platt saw a young man who had matured greatly.

“He had sort of shed that youthful teenage nervous energy and was very forthright and specific about why he was interested in this,” Platt said.

Once Efron was on board, the actor immediately wanted to bring in a director he felt comfortable with, such as Steers. But selling the director of the edgy “Igby Goes Down” on the tearjerker wasn’t easy.

“Burr wrote me an e-mail and was like, ‘It’s a little bit cheesy, but if you’re really serious about this, if you’re up for it, then I’m in,’” recalled Efron.

“You bring someone like me in to take a little bit of that out of it,” Steers said of the story’s initial schmaltz.