ZAC EFRON AS MATT BRODY IN “BAYWATCH”

Press release

ZAC EFRON CHANNELS RYAN LOCHTE IN THE NEW SEX COMEDY “BAYWATCH”

Nurturing an impressive body of work that encompasses both film and television, Zac Efron has proven to be one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents.

Photo credits: UIP

This season, Efron co-stars opposite Dwayne Johnson in Paramount Pictures' Baywatch, the highly-anticipated comedy based off the popular '90s TV show.

In Philippine cinemas starting May 31, Baywatch follows devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchannon (Johnson) as he butts heads with Matt Brody (Efron), a brash new recruit. Together, they uncover a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay.

From the beginning, Baywatch had been envisioned as a buddy comedy, and the producers knew they’d need an actor who could hold his own against Johnson’s larger than life on-screen alter ego. They found a perfect foil in Efron, who is quickly becoming a go-to actor for ‘R’ rated comedies, having recently added Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016) and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) to his already impressive resume.

“I wasn’t allowed to watch Baywatch growing up,” Efron laments. “But I do remember sneaking it, late at night, after Howard Stern on a crappy old TV with a dial. One time, I was channel flipping and came across this awesome show full of boats and explosions and I just thought the whole thing was amazing. When the show was over, I realized it was Baywatch, and I was like, ‘Holy cow. That was amazing.’”

“Zac’s incredibly handsome, charming and funny,” Johnson says of his co-star. “He’s got this great boyish quality at times, and I love him like a brother. He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, so it’s that much more fun to have him play a cocky asshole and mix it up with him.”

Efron plays Matt Brody, a bad boy Olympic swimmer and two time gold medalist who arrives in Emerald Bay expecting a spot on Mitch’s highly competitive, handpicked Baywatch team.

“Brody throws a wrench in things,” Johnson explains. “We’ve got this team that’s gelling, but he’s this hotshot coming off the Olympics, who thinks he can just join the team without being trained properly.”

“At the Olympics, Brody won his solo events, but messed up the team relay because he got drunk the night before,” says Efron. “He did some illegal stuff, and joining Baywatch is part of his parole.”

“We drew some inspiration from Ryan Lochte in our approach to Brody, which Zac responded to immediately,” director Seth Gordon recalls. “The character was written before the real Lochte got himself into trouble, which ended up being unexpectedly prescient.”

“The world has had to live without Baywatch for such a long time, so I couldn’t be more excited to be bringing it back,” says Efron enthusiastically. “We’re building on one of the greatest TV shows of all time, and Dwayne, Ilfenesh, Jon, Alexandra, Kelly and Priyanka are all so amazing and talented. It’s going to be hilarious and action-packed. I’m really stoked about it.”

Baywatch is distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

ANNA KENDRICK AND ZAC EFRON IN R-RATED COMEDY “MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES”

Press release

It all started with a Craiglist ad that became viral when real life brothers Mike and Dave Stangle are looking for dates to bring to a wedding - sounds crazy but it really happened.  Their story reaches the big screen in the hilarious and  aptly titled “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” starring Anna Kendrick, Zac Efron, Adam Devine and Aubrey Plaza.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

                Mike (Devine) and Dave Stangle (Efron) are young, adventurous, fun-loving and, some would even say, obnoxious.  The “some” would include other members of the Stangle family.  So when their sister Jeanie announces she’s getting married, the family holds an intervention, demanding that Mike and Dave bring respectable dates.  To fulfill their family’s request Mike and Dave turn to the best source of decent, respectable girls they can think of: Craigslist.  They place an ad promising that their selected companions will receive an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii and the chance to participate in all of the Stangle family wedding-related activities.

                Along with its R-rated humor, “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” has unexpected moments of heart.  Jake Szymanski, who makes his feature directorial debut after helming hilarious short form comedies on “Funny or Die,” says:  “The Stangle family is very tightly-knit, even when they disagree.  They’re very proud of being Stangles, so they’re just trying to have one family event that doesn’t get completely screwed up by Mike and Dave.”

                When tuning in to their back-and-forth banter, it becomes clear that the Stangles’ primary interest is entertaining each other.  If anyone else thinks they are funny too, well, so much the better.  Before long the idea of a book emerged.  Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (and a thousand cocktails) continues with the same volley of dialogue and ideas; Mike does a chapter, then Dave does a chapter and so on. 

                Whatever their differences, Mike and Dave are tight.  “They have a symbiotic relationship,” says Efron.  “They can’t exist without one another.  They’re as much best friends as they are brothers.”   

                Mike and Dave certainly know how to rock a room, but they’re small-timers compared to their dates.  As background to Alice (Kendrick) and Tatiana (Plaza), director Szymanski observes that they “have a history of misadventures that have taken them around the world.   They can travel around the globe with only a couple of backpacks, and have stories to tell for ages.”

“The characters were great inventions of our writers,” notes Ready.  “Tatiana is a mix of danger and sexuality, and everything she does is pretty extreme.  Alice is a wild child who is always unpredictable.  They are in such different places in their lives, and yet these wedding dates are just what they need.”

                The burgeoning brotherly bond between Devine and Efron was facilitated by the opportunity to spend considerable time together on location.   Says Devine:   “Zac and I arrived in Oahu two weeks before production started, and we didn’t know anyone else there.  Who else am I going to hang out with?  So we obviously were just going to hang out with each other every day and that was great planning on Fox’s part, because we became the best of buds.  By the end of production, he says with a laugh, “we finished each other’s sentences in a weird way.”

                Rated R-18 by the MTRCB, “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” opens September 14 in cinemas from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. 

Sneak Peek: FRAT COMEDY “NEIGHBORS”

FRAT COMEDY “NEIGHBORS” DEBUTS IMAGES

The one-sheet art and first images from Universal Pictures' new comedy “Neighbors” have landed online. Seth Rogen (“This Is The End”), Zac Efron (“The Lucky One”) and Rose Byrne (“Insidious”) lead the cast of the uproarious comedy about a young couple suffering from arrested development who are forced to live next to a fraternity house after the birth of their newborn baby.

 

Photo courtesy of UIP.

“Neighbors” is directed by Nick Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”).

 

The film also stars Dave Franco (“21 Jump Street”), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (“Superbad”), Jake Johnson (TV's “New Girl”), Ike Barinholtz, Jason Mantozoukas (“The Dictator”), and Lisa Kudrow (“Easy A”). 

 

Opening soon across the Philippines, “Neighbors″ is distributed by United International Pictures.

ZAC EFRON, “LUCKY” TO PLAY A WAR HERO

Zac Efron in The Lucky One

Zac Efron stars in Warner Bros.' new romantic drama “The Lucky One” as U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault on his third tour of duty in Iraq. Almost immediately, he is thrust into a firefight that changes his life forever. 

             In the film, Logan returns home from his tour of duty, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive—a photograph he found of a woman he doesn’t even know. Discovering her name is Beth (Taylor Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm.

             The role itself changed Efron, who literally had to transform himself physically and emotionally, to look, move and react like a Marine who had served in a war zone and seen far more violence and loss than his family or peers at home could even imagine. 

             Director Scott Hicks explains, “When we first see Logan, we need to know what he's gone through and understand some of the sense of trauma that he carries with him out of this conflict. I was very impressed by Zac’s commitment to not only change his physique but also to get into the mindset of a soldier. He created the slightly stony exterior of someone a little mysterious—a character we don’t know a great deal about at first.” 

             “Initially I wasn’t convinced I could pull this off,” Efron recalls, “but the more I thought about it, and the more I talked to Scott, I realized if there was ever going to be a chance to play a role so different from what I’ve played before, this was it. I knew I had to put in the work to be able to play Logan, and I felt capable in Scott’s hands.”

             Producer Denise Di Novi says, “One of my favorite things about being a producer is watching actors reinvent themselves, and that’s what Zac did. He just looks like a different person in this film. How he walks, how he stands, how he holds himself…it was a thrill to see him become Logan.”

             Producer McCormick concurs, “Even though he'd never done anything like it before, Zac was really able to bring a very specific and unique take on Logan. We literally saw somebody who's been so youthful in every other movie legitimately turn into a man in front of our very eyes. That really helped make Nick Spark’s character come to life. Apart from looking like a Marine, Zac brought a reservoir of pain and strength in equal measure.” 

             Efron’s preparation to play a seasoned Marine included the physical rigors of training several months prior to production with military consultant James Dever, a retired Sergeant Major who spent twenty-five years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and rising at 3:30 a.m. during filming to continue the regimen. That and a strict diet added 20 pounds of bulk to the actor. To complete the exterior metamorphosis, Efron buzzed his signature hair. 

             The internal work was equally, if not more, demanding. In order to get into his character’s psyche, Efron travelled with Hicks to Camp Pendleton to talk to Marines and see combat through their eyes. 

             Efron recalls, “When I got there it was like stepping into a different world. They stood with a purpose. They had laser focus, never broke eye contact. This is my generation, on the front lines. They’ve experienced some pretty gruesome things. We sat and talked for several hours and they were the most amazing conversations I've ever had with anybody. In terms of research, it was priceless. I can't thank them enough. The stories and personal feelings they shared became part of the canvas for Logan.”

             “We took very seriously what these young guys go through serving overseas,” Di Novi remarks. “Zac respected it, absorbed it, really internalized it, and I think you see that on film. He does a great job in honoring those guys' experiences.”

             Interestingly, a number of the Marines with whom Efron and Hicks met had a variety of good luck charms that they had carried with them into battle. Hicks describes, “One sergeant took out the remnants of what was barely recognizable as a playing card, which he'd taken with him on multiple tours. Once he’d lost it, which disturbed him deeply, but in the most extraordinary circumstances he found it again, quite by chance. The way he felt about it was very moving.”

             “The Lucky One” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Zac Efron Voices “TED” in Dr. Seuss’ THE LORAX

Zac Efron as Ted in Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

The role of the passionate and curious 12-year-old named Ted went to Zac Efron, known to audiences for the High School Musical series and the hit musical Hairspray.  Though the character is much younger than the actor, the filmmakers knew that Efron’s charm and youthful spirit would serve the character well

Efron vividly remembers his parents reading “The Lorax” to him as a child and credits the book as “planting the seed of an environmentalist” in him.  Reflecting upon his character, he states: “Ted is a regular kid growing up who is hungry for adventure.  He’s got a crush on this girl, and he has a crazy grandma and a mom who is too strict, so he wants his freedom.  He lives in a world in which there is virtually no nature—no trees and no plants.  Everything exists through technology, so it’s fun to see him navigating a similar family life that we have today.”

            Voicing an animated character was a new experience for Efron.  He notes that though the process of recording alone in a booth felt a bit awkward at times, he enjoyed the challenge.  “I thought back to my childhood and put myself in these awkward, hilarious situations that this kid finds himself in.  The variations between something being funny and something not quite fitting are so slight, but they can make all the difference.  It’s fun to really let go, though I’m sure it looked ridiculous when I was in the sound booth.” 

How was it to play Ted in THE LORAX?

It was awesome. Ted’s a little rock star. He’s an ambitious, driven AND crafty young guy. He would do anything for the girl he loves. He’s a cool, cool cat.

What did you bring to the character when you were doing the voice over?

I wanted Ted to be enthusiastic and energetic. In the beginning he was naïve but he really turned into quite an admirable young man. In the end, Ted saves the day!

What did you imagine when you were doing the voice over?

A lot of it was imagination but we also had incredible animators feeding us little details and kind of teasing us by showing us what the world might look like in the movie. We were able to use that to kind of create our own world in our minds. It was fun.

What is it like to voice an animated character? How does it differ from acting with a partner?

You just have to throw all of your inhibition out the window. I had to leave my ego at the door. My favorite animated performance probably ever was Robin Williams in ALADDIN, when he plays the Genie. When they showed the video from recording that movie, Robin is all over the place. He's practically doing back flips. He's doing crazy faces, voices and gestures. He actually looks absolutely ridiculous but the performance that he got out of that was extraordinary. I'll never forget it. So I just tried not to worry about what I looked like or how I felt or how embarrassing it was. I just tried to go nuts and have fun. As long as you're having fun you can't really go wrong.

Which scene did you most enjoy doing the voice over on?

I think I like the scenes between Audrey (Taylor Swift’s character) and my character the most. They came out really well. I had known Taylor before, but we didn’t rehearse this. We did the voice overs separately and it all fit together really well.

Are you a big fan of 3-D?

I’m a huge fan of 3-D. The way 3D can be executed is amazing. When you’re immersed in the beautiful world of THE LORAX, the 3D element really adds a special dimension. It’s really cool.

Do you think there is a message in THE LORAX for children?

I think it’s going to inspire courage in a lot of kids. In THE LORAX, you see that you can incite and inspire change. All it takes is one seed to change the world.

What made you want to become an actor?

This is a funny story. When I was twelve-years old my family stopped at a hotel in Las Vegas and while we were there we went to see a sketch comedy show. I got dragged on stage by one of the ladies and in that moment realized that I love being on stage. It was hilarious.

Even though this movie is animated, for the promos they built actual sets. What is it like to look behind you and see Truffula trees right here in the studio?

It's pretty crazy. I have the images in my head from when I was a child and read the book. It was a great experience to watch the Truffula trees come to life.  I loved being a part of it. It's a great feeling.

What was it like to immerse yourself in the world of THE LORAX?

It was fun and kooky and weird and everything you dreamed it would be. We had a great time.

Had you read the book The Lorax as a child? If so, can you remember what you got from the story?

I think that it was read to me. The message that I got, loud and clear, was don't cut down trees. But the story has evolved a little bit since then. I think this film does a great job on the message of the story. And we’ve done it in a very big, fun, and adventure filled-way. It's really something special. I'm very excited about it.

Can you talk a little bit about the courage that your character Ted displays?

Everyone's in this sort of world where they have everything they need and ignorance is bliss. Ted is a young, curious and passionate guy. He's driven by love to think outside the box, to push himself.

Ted goes to some extraordinary lengths to get the girl. Can you think of something, crazy, that you would do for a girl?

There can’t be anything more extraordinary than finding something that’s thought to be extinct.  That’s what Ted did.  It was the most amazing gesture.

Since the animators used you as part of their character design, were you happy with the end result?

Yes, Ted looks cool. The first time I saw him he looked like a regular twelve-year old kid. But what's important is what's going on up here in his head.  That was up to me.

What messages do you think kids and adults will take from this movie?

I think the biggest message is that the smallest gesture can change the world. 

If there was a real, live Lorax in the world today how do you think he would behave?

I think that he probably wouldn't drive a car at all. He would probably be an organic farmer that skateboards and uses solar electricity.

Have you ever planted a tree?

My dad and I planted orange trees in the backyard a couple of years ago. It's amazing to watch them grow. You feel a personal connection to them. It’s also pretty cool when you're actually eating the fruit from a tree that you planted.

When you are doing voiced over work you are essentially in a booth by yourself. Do you miss the interaction with other actors?

I really enjoy working with other actors. Probably the biggest bummer for me on this project was not being able to meet, Danny or Taylor. But here we are at this press event together and we get to hang out now.

How did you get this role?

I met with Chris Meledandri (Producer) and he said that he had an idea for a movie that he wanted to talk about.  He told me about THE LORAX. I was immediately interested. It seemed like a really fun project.

Would you want to work again on another animated feature?

I would love to. I'd like to do an animated musical. I think that that would be so fun. 

“Dr.Seuss’s The Lorax” released and distributed by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corp. Starts showing on March 14, 2012. Nationwide!