Zac Efron Says He "Almost Died" After Shattering His Jaw In 2013

Zac Efron "almost died" after shattering his jaw.

The Baywatch actor, 34, had to have his mouth wired shut following an accident in 2013, where he slipped and smacked his face on the corner of a granite fountain. The injury subsequently sparked rumours that the High School Musical star had undergone plastic surgery. 

Addressing those under-the-knife stories at the Toronto International Film Festival Tuesday (Sept 13), ahead of his new movie, The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Efron told Entertainment Tonight, "It was funny. It sucks. I almost died, but we're good.

"My mum told me [about the rumours]. I never really read the internet, so, I don’t really care."

Efron has previously told Men's Health how his "chin bone was hanging off his face" following his incident, and the masseter muscles on the inside of his face and jaw had to work overtime to compensate for the injury which gave him a very different look.

In Efron's latest, The Greatest Beer Run, he plays a guy who heads to Vietnam from New York to bring alcoho to his childhood friends fightin in the war. The movie, directed by Peter Farrelly (Green Book), also stars Bill Murray and Russell Crowe.

"Working with Bill Murray and Russell Crowe, it's a dream come true," Efron told ET. "When you meet somebody like that, and you're filming a movie, and you're sort of in the process already, you just start working together, and there's something that really great actors do that Bill and Russell did, that was just — they are so present and care so much about this craft, that they've mastered so many different aspects of filmmaking. They become more than your co-star.

"They help you through tapes, they have ideas — they're very aware of their presence on camera, characters and story.

"It's so fun to work with those people, like you said, sort of absorb some of the magic, you just feel like, 'That’s what I want to be when I grow up.' " 

The Greatest Beer Run Ever premieres on Apple TV+ on Sept 30. 

— BANG SHOWBIZ

Photo: TPG News/Click Photos