Zac Efron Broke His Hand After Trying to Punch Dave Franco in ‘Neighbors’
Zac Efron was a new face in one of Seth Rogen’s raunchy comedies Neighbors. But a fight scene in the film ended up getting out of hand, resulting in Efron slightly injuring himself.
How Zac Efron injured himself in this Seth Rogen comedy
Efron didn’t have to audition for the hit comedy Neighbors. Rogen was already very familiar with the actor, and offered Efron the starring role that he gladly accepted. Efron played a wild sorority frat boy living next door to Rogen’s character, which the High School Musical star helped create.
“One thing he was vocal about, which was very smart, was making a movie that wasn’t just critical of fraternity life,” Rogen once told The Hollywood Reporter. “Most of us are nerdy comedy-writer guys, and he’s not, so it was very helpful to have the voice of the other group. It was a defining moment for the movie.”
Efron confided that he had more than a good time collaborating with Rogen and his co-stars. But perhaps he had a bit too much fun during a fight sequence in the film he had with Dave Franco. Their make-believe altercation eventually caused a real injury on set. And Rogen thought it would change the entire movie.
“It was amazing and really scary,” Rogen said. “I couldn’t believe it. In the scene, he punches Dave and maybe hits the ground. He kept going for a while, and slowly his hand was getting very swollen. He had to have surgery. We were budgeting what it would cost and writing it into the [script]. But he was back a day or two later. We didn’t change our shooting schedule at all.”
Seth Rogen used to hate Zac Efron
Rogen wasn’t always Efron’s biggest fan. The Knocked Up actor admitted he had a few preconceived notions about his co-star when they were younger. But this changed after the two started getting acquainted with one another.
“I was expecting to not like him very much when I first met him. The first time I met him I assumed he’d be a little f***er, but that was eight years ago. I was proven very wrong because he’s a sweet, nice guy … He was just so nice, cool and very self-aware and self-effacing and endearing, and all those things that make someone hard to hate,” Rogen said in a resurfaced interview with People (News 24).
Being such a huge fan of Rogen’s work, Efron went out of his way to show him who he really was as a person.
“I really made some extra effort, and after a while I think I wore him down a bit. I’ve respected Seth since the first movie that I saw him in. He rebranded comedy, and I identified with it, every single part of it: mind, body and spirit. That’s how I want to be,” Efron said.
‘Neighbors’ made Zac Efron want to do more comedies
Efron shared that the best part about starring in Rogen’s improvisational comedy was it seemed just as fun as the movie itself. But the fun in the movie was also a challenge for Efron, who might not have been used to that kind of film environment.
“Every single day was more or less a party. You went into this kind of dream state: You show up, it’s dark, and there’s a raging party. Drive home, and the sun’s up, go to sleep and then get back to set. Glow lights, girls in bikinis, electronic dance music blasting in between takes, people jumping around. It was pretty cool, but it was a lot. It was a lot. It sort of became real,” he said.
A side effect of doing Neighbors was that it made The Greatest Showman star want to dabble in the genre more.
“I could see that happening, for sure,” Efron said in a 2014 interview with Time. “I think it’s all [about] who you surround yourself with. I’m really lucky to be in a movie with these guys, and I would jump at the chance to do it again.”
Since Neighbors, Efron has already done a couple of comedies. He starred in the film’s 2016 sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. He also further explored the genre in comedies like when Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates and Baywatch.
