Margie Patton
Staff Writer
Zac Efron recently revealed some emotional private details to a surprising listener: adventurer Bear Grylls.
Efron opened up about his struggles with addiction during the debut episode of the new series, Running Wild with Bear Grylls, which takes the Man vs. Wild star on 48-hour survival expeditions with a new celebrity each week.
Efron shows off plenty of tough-guy moves in the show, including jumping out of a helicopter, but the actor also displays his vulnerable side with heartfelt admissions about how his inability to cope with the stresses of public life spiraled into a substance abuse problem.
The challenging part was never the work. That was never it. It was sort of the in-between work. The social aspects outside of it, I mean, everywhere you go, to a certain extent, there is press in some form. That can be confusing… You spend a lot of time in your house, going crazy. Pretty soon, you need a social lubricant. Once I needed that, it became to go anywhere. It got to the point where I was caring less about the work and waiting more for the weekend.
Fortunately, Efron’s time in rehab seems to have had a significant impact on the young star’s behavior and attitude.
He proclaimed to Grylls,
I just really never again want to have to take anything from the outside into me to feel good about my outside, to be comfortable in my present skin.
Watch Efron’s episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls now at nbc.com and catch new episodes every Monday night at 8/7 c.
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