Zac Efron Reacts To Being Called A ‘Zaddy’ And Talks Playing A Dad In ‘Firestarter’ (Exclusive)
11.05.2022 - 04:41
/ etcanada.com
Yes, Zac Efron‘s reached that age where he’s old enough to play a dad. But, in true new-dad fashion, the kid (sorry) man needs a lesson on a term that entered the pop culture lexicon some six years ago that he’s suddenly re-defining: Zaddy!
The 34-year-old actor is set to star in the reboot of the 1984 horror film that’s an adaptation of a Stephen King novel of the same name. Efron plays Andy McGee, father to Charlie, who possesses pyrokinesis powers. Budding actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong, 12, plays Charlie.
With the new Keith Thomas-directed film set to hit theatres and stream on Peacock on May 14, many fans (notably millennials) are beside themselves at the idea that Efron, who was 18 while filming the first “High School Musical”, is now old enough to play the role of a dad. But, now that the shock has settled in, they’ve resorted themselves to anointing him as a Zaddy.
“Wow, cool!” Efron said. “Is ‘Zaddy’ not Zac Daddy, or what is it?” Truth be told, Efron had no clue what the term meant until ET’s Lauren Zima explained that it’s a good-looking dad. Or, as Esquire once put it in a 2018 article: “Zaddy is a man ‘with swag’ who is attractive and also fashionable.”
“Is it?” asked Efron. “Oh wow. All right, I’ll take that one.”
Efron’s co-star then proceeded to hand her movie dad a trophy.
“A Zaddy trophy,” he said. “Oh, that’s what that means.”
Despite the fact it’s the first time he’s playing a dad, pivoting to the new role is not really something he thought about too much, what with the gruelling storyline in the horror film.
“All things said, there’s a lot going on in the film, so being a dad, as much as it was a weird thing to be happening, there’s a lot more dangerous stuff going on,” Efron explained. “So I got to