Summary
Zac Efronis best known for his roles inHigh School MusicalandThe Iron Claw, but his most underrated performance is in a 2012 film with a 71% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Efron’s breakout role was as Troy Bolton in the Disney Channel Original MovieHigh School Musical, whose popularity led to him reprising the role inHigh School Musical 2andHigh School Musical 3: Senior Year. He expanded on this success with projects ranging from the movie musicalsHairsprayandThe Greatest Showmanto the R-rated comediesNeighborsandBaywatch.
While Efron continued to act in many comedic films, he has also added some more dramatic fare to his filmography in recent years, including his critically acclaimed portrayal ofKevin Von Erich inThe Iron Clawand his eerie performance as serial killerTed Bundy in Netflix’sExtremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.The Iron Clawis generally regarded as Efron’s best role, in which he showcases a powerful emotional depth. As impressive as Efron’s diverse career and his performance inThe Iron Claware, however, his role in an earlier Elizabeth Olsen movie is an overlooked chapter in his career deserving more recognition.
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What Liberal Arts Is About (And Who Zac Efron Plays)
Zac Efron Plays An Eclectic College Student Named Nat
The 2012 rom-comLiberal ArtsfeaturesZac Efron’s most underrated acting performance. The movie is about a 35-year-old man named Jesse Fisher (Josh Radnor) who returns to his college for a weekend to celebrate the retirement of one of his professors. Jesse meets a 19-year-old college student named Elizabeth, nicknamed “Zibby” (Elizabeth Olsen), with the two characters quickly falling for each other, causing Jesse to reevaluate a great deal about his life. Radnor, who played Ted Mosby inHow I Met Your Mother, also directed and wrote the film, withLiberal Artsfeeling like a natural extension of Ted’s search for true love.
Josh Radnor also directed and wrote the 2010 filmHappythankyoumoreplease.
Efron plays Nat, an eccentric and hilarious studentwho Jesse meets when he returns to his alma mater. Nat commends Jesse for touching a tree when they first meet because there’s"a lot of information in trees"and later shares his thoughts on conspiracies about crop circles and the effects that food preservatives have on the decomposition of corpses. He becomes an unlikely friend to Jesse, encouraging Jesse and making him feel better in moments where Jesse feels lost and uncertain.
Why Liberal Arts Is Zac Efron’s Most Underrated Performance
Zac Efron Is Hilariously Weird In Liberal Arts
Despite the many comedic roles Efron has played throughout his career,he’s never been funnier than he is as Nat inLiberal Arts. Efron’s performance walks a fine line between being wise and being unhinged. He is seamlessly able to alternate between comforting Jesse through an analogy about caterpillars to performing a strange ritual in which he pretends to cut Jesse in half, pounds on his chest, and releases a guttural scream.
Nat steals every scene that he’s in with the sincerity Efron brings to a character who can somehow be both paranoid and serene.
Nat only appears in a couple of scenes and plays a relatively minor role, with Jesse and Zibby being the characters at the forefront of the story. Nevertheless, Nat steals every scene that he’s in with the sincerity Efron brings to a character who can somehow be both paranoid and serene.Nat’s sudden and brief appearances make him a surprising and impactful characterwho provides disarming humor and shapes Jesse’s worldview, making him effective comic relief and serving a narrative purpose without overtaking the larger story.
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Was Zac Efron’s Liberal Arts Character A Hallucination?
Jesse Questions Whether Nat Is Real
During their last scene together, Jesse asks Nat if he is real, suggesting that the college student may have been a hallucination all along who appears to help Jesse in times of need. It’s a valid question as,for the most part, Nat only communicates with and is acknowledged by Jesse. Jesse is alone and walking around campus when he encounters Nat on a park bench, and even when they go to a party together, Nat mainly communicates with Jesse, and when they cross paths again at night on campus, it’s just the two of them.
As intriguing as Nat being a hallucination is, it ultimately doesn’t seem to be the case as at the party, Nat briefly introduces himself to Zibby’s roommate Vanessa, who acknowledges him, as does Zibby by directly following up on a comment Nat makes about liking Jesse. Since Jesse is having a midlife crisis and questioning a great deal about his life, there would be something fitting about Jesse subconsciously conjuring the philosophical Nat. The fact thatLiberal Artsnever explicitly confirms nor denies Nat being a hallucination adds another layer toZac Efron’s most underrated performance.
