It’s no secret that Zac Efron has had his share of issues with drugs and alcohol. He even went to rehab and is apparently back on the wagon (apparently being the key word). Well, now he’s decided to open up about his struggles to none other than Bear Grylls, as they walked around mountains and drank their own piss, or whatever you do on that show.
Here’s the scoop from US Weekly:
The High School Musical alum, 26, was the first celebrity to appear on Running Wild with Bear Grylls, NBC’s new reality show where Grylls takes celebrities on two-day excursions to put their survival skills to the test.
In addition to jumping out of a helicopter, being dropped into the Catskill Mountains, and eating a worm, Efron, who has completed two stints in rehab, opened up to the survivalist about achieving fame early on and what ultimately led to his struggles with addiction.
“It was just so quick — it was shocking,” the blue-eyed hunk admitted about hitting fame at such a young age. “The challenging part was never the work, that was never it,” Efron began when asked by Grylls what led him to rehab. “It was sort of the in-between work — the social aspects outside of it; everywhere you go [there are press and people watching] … and it can be confusing … and pretty soon you need a social lubricant,” he said.
“Once it became that … it got to the point where I was caring less about the work and waiting more for the weekend where I couldn’t wait to go out and let loose and have fun,” the Neighbors actor went on. “But when Monday and Tuesday were difficult to get through, I thought, ‘This is bad.’
“I just really never again want to take anything from the outside in to feel … comfortable in my present skin, and that takes a lot of work,” he said. “It’s just meditation and stopping and slowing down your brain.”
Unfortunately I don’t really buy the whole “I meditate instead of taking drugs now” thing – that’s only ever been true for Russell Brand (and even him I’m not sure about). Zac gets in tooooo many weird situations for a non-druggie, but kudos for the acting effort.