Zac Efron Gets Serious For ‘Orson Welles And Me’

Zac Efron isn’t graduating from East High until May, but the 20-year-old star is already enrolled in a masters program for continued education…from none other than the director of “Citizen Kane.”“I leave for London in a few days,” Efron excitedly revealed of his schedule for “Orson Welles and Me,” a new movie in which he will play a teen who gets caught up in the rise of Wells’ Mercury Theater. “He gets swept into this amazing adventure and in a way becomes Orson Welles’ protégé. It’s just a very, very fun coming-of-age story.”
It’s a story that somewhat mirrors Efron’s own meteoric rise through super-stardom, from teen heartthrob in the popular “High School Musical” series, to what he hopes will be a career as a more serious actor, he revealed.
“It’s a completely different project than I’ve ever done before,” Efron teased. “Gosh, I would say, that’s the main reason I’m looking forward to doing [it]. It’s just a side I’ve never really shown before. I think it’s going to be a lot of color in this movie. A lot of things you haven’t seen before, hopefully. I’m crossing my fingers, anyway.”
But while Efron will soon sit at the feet of one of cinema’s greatest ever artists (or, at least a reasonable facsimile, anyway), the boy who sent a thousand teenage hearts a twitter says the person he’d really like to get career advice from isn’t actually that much older. Remember when the King of the World had pimples?
“I think someone who’s made very wise choices is Leonardo DiCaprio. He’s kind of my definition of teen star because when I was growing up his face was everywhere,” Efron gushed. “I think since then he’s developed an incredible body of work. If there’s anyone I’d like to emulate it’s him.”
Do you buy Efron as a more serious actor? What do you think of “Me and Orson Welles”? Sound off below.