Zac Efron makes red carpet return after horror facial injury

Zac Efron has stepped out for his first red carpet appearance in years, just days after he publicly revealed the dramatic cause of his noticeable facial transformation.

Efron, 34, looked dapper as he stepped out for the premiere of his new film The Greatest Beer Run Ever at the Toronto International Film Festival this week.

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It marked the star’s first red carpet outing in over three years, after he relocated to Australia for much of the pandemic and kept a relatively low profile, living around Byron Bay and working on various film and television projects.

But Efron still made headlines during his Hollywood sabbatical, thanks to a short-lived relationship with Byron Bay waitress Vanessa Valladeres and, later, photos that showed his markedly changed appearance.
 

Efron sparked rumours of cosmetic surgery in April 2021 when pictures surfaced showing him with a swollen face, pronounced jaw, and bigger lips.

But in a recent interview with Men’s Health magazine, he explained the change happened after he “shattered his jaw” during a household accident.

 

The actor revealed he was running through his house with socks on when he slipped and hit the corner of a fountain. When he came to, he found his “chin bone … hanging off” his face.

Efron explained that as he recovered, his facial muscles got “really, really big” to compensate for the injury.

“The masseter [muscles] just grew,” he told Men’s Health.

After the shocking photos of Efron’s altered appearance sparked plastic surgery rumours, his friend Kyle Sandilands insisted the Hollywood actor had not had any work done.

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“It’s like getting a Picasso and having a kid finger paint all over it,” he said on The Kyle and Jackie O radio show in May 2021.

“Why bother? … I would know if he’d had any plastic surgery.”