Zac Efron Wants To Avoid Curse Of The Teen Heartthrobs
Submitted by da411girl
Zac Efron wants to avoid the curse of the teen heartthrob. Charming good looks and hordes of adoring fans never seem to fade for these young male actors, that is until they grow up into dreaded adults. Very few turn that early success into leading role adult actors.
Leonardo DiCaprio did it. Daniel Radcliffe of the 'Harry Potter' series hopes to do it.
On the flipside, the famous teen heatthrobs to barely famous struggling actors include Corey Haim, Luke Perry, Ralph Macchio, and Jason Priestley. They were all worshiped in their time, yet none of them crossed over to big name celebs in the grown-up market.
Also of note is, "Eight Is Enough's" Willie Aames, once cute, funny, and adored can now be found on VH1's "Broke and Famous."
The former heartthrobs keep failing in masses in their attempt to make it to the Hollywood big leagues.
Zac Efron, now 22, refuses to let that happen though, or so he hopes. Disney's "High School Musical" series made him an overnight sensation with teenage girls. He recently turned down the lead role in "HSM" director Kenny Ortega's musical version of "Footloose," wanting more serious roles.
So instead of '80s pop, Efron is starring in Richard "Waking Life" Linklater's indie "Me and Orson Welles," heavy with Shakespeare and an artist's philandering. He once again plays a precocious teen, Richard Samuels, but this time it's as the young lover to Claire Danes' older woman. And there isn't a locker or high school gym in sight.
This move proves Efron meant what he said when he hoped out loud he could one day find himself in a film with Martin Scorsese. It's a risky move but it just might work.
The key to a smooth transition, said youth talent agent Robin Nassif, is Efron's patience and focus.
"George Clooney was around for a long time before 'ER'; I cast him in 'Facts of Life,' " Nassif recalled as an example. "He had a little guest part on 'Facts of Life,' and he did quite a few failed pilots, quite a few failed series, but when that ['ER'] part came along, that was the part that made him a star. [It was] the part that made people say he could do movies."
Sometimes, said Lisa May, youth talent agent at Diverse Talent Group, "they don't evolve ... they remain 'the best friend' or they just become a less attractive adult kid. It's really how you grow, how you evolve, what you look like as a finished product."
But do any of these teen heartthrobs have real talent?
"They get themselves trapped into doing that one character, and they have a difficult time transitioning themselves from doing that," said Diane Heery of Heery Casting. "Even while doing a show, [an actor] should be getting coaching from somebody or taking a class; being challenged to be somebody else."
Efron seems to be very aware of this. He's repeatedly mentioned how much he looks up to one of the former teen idols who did make it, Leonardo DiCaprio, and how closely he's been studying DiCaprio's career.
DiCaprio went from "Growing Pains" to teen heartthrob drama "Romeo and Juliet" before starring in the mega-grossing monster blockbuster, "Titanic." Efron, on the other hand, is trying to move away from Disney-Nickelodeon bubble that most tween TV franchises are built on, and it's pretty difficult.
Casting experts say there are things to be gained from the "star power machine" of Disney and Nickelodeon, mainly more acting jobs, but admit there are also drawbacks.
Tons of teen-marketed television series "build a whole mystique around a certain actor in order to sell those projects, [and] that's why the actors get pigeonholed -- that's how their producer is selling that product. You have to search for other things so people don't just see one side of you," said Diane Heery.
While there's no formula for bursting through the teen idol ceiling, trying to "gently [push] the boundaries of perception should be the goal," said Megan Larche of Larche Casting, who works exclusively with young actors.
But Efron's got it. If he didn't, "High School" wouldn't have been what it was. He also can do one thing most failed teen idols didn't do very well, he can act.
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