Zac Efron, the now 28 year-old star of film and TV was interviewed for the June issue of Elle and spoke about his three years of sobriety. He spoke about going to rehab for drugs and alcohol despite his once squeaky clean Disney-channel image, Efron says“What I found is structure,” he said. “That led me to a balance of opposites: You get out of life what you put in.”
Efron, who has been a well known performer since his early teen years said he had a difficult time with all the pressures of a Hollywood lifestyle and the fame and public attention that comes with it. “There was a moment when my morning routine was, like, Get up and Google yourself,” he told Elle. “But that stopped, dramatically and instantly, probably three years ago. I realized that viewing yourself through other people’s pictures is not living your own life.”
His self consciousness eventually ate away at his sense of self making vulnerable to harsh criticism, “I wasn’t really being myself,” he said. “A lot of my hobbies had gone out the window. I couldn’t skateboard or surf for fear of being followed. Crossing the line of fear is what leads to greatness.”
Now living a sober lifestyle. Efron is taking on his fears straight on, not excluding a shark encounter during a trip to Hawaii, “I came face to face with a shark,” he said. “I could either turn and try to beat the shark to the boat, or I could look it in the eyes and let it know I’m present and I’m not afraid. It went right past me, and I put my hand out and I actually rode the shark for 10 or 15 seconds.”
A lot has changed for Efron since 2013 when the star checked himself into rehab twice. ”I was drinking a lot, way too much,” he said in a 2014 interview. “It’s never one specific thing. I mean, you’re in your 20s, single, going through life in Hollywood…everything is thrown at you.” Despite his difficulties, he said he had no regrets: “I wouldn’t take anything back; I needed to learn everything I did. But it was an interesting journey, to say the least.” To say the least.
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