Celebrity News

Zac Efron calls Skid Row brawl most terrifying moment of his life

Zac Efron is finally talking about “the most terrifying moment in [his] life,” the night he fought a homeless man in a seedy part of downtown Los Angeles.

“I had a friend come pick me up late at night — we were looking for a place downtown to get a bite and catch up,” the “Neighbors” star tells The Hollywood Reporter. “We were having trouble finding somewhere — a lot of places were closed — and the car ran out of gas off the 110. It was ridiculous. We had to pull over, and I called Uber.”

It was then that things went awry for Efron, 26, and his still-unnamed companion, whom TMZ later identified as a convicted drug dealer.

“A homeless guy, or vagrant, tapped on the driver’s-side window. Before I knew it, [my friend] was out of the car, and they started fighting. I saw that [the homeless man] was carrying some sort of a knife, or shank, and I got out of the car to disarm him. At some point, he dropped the knife, and I got hit pretty hard in the face — and almost instantly the police were there to break up the fight.”

The incident left many wondering if Efron, who spent time in rehab last year, had really overcome his substance abuse troubles. But the former “High School Musical” star says publicly admitting to his struggle comes with the territory — even if he hasn’t always been open to talking about it.

“When you have success young, and you accept the good things, you have to accept all of it,” he says. “You have to accept the moments of glory but also a great responsibility. And that responsibility, to some degree, involves being a role model. At the same time, I’m a human being, and I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’ve learned from each one.”