Zac Efron reveals he once made Michael Jackson cry for the sweetest reason: “I was freaking out...”
Zac Efron may have never met Michael Jackson in person but he definitely has a strange, but heartwarming memory to share. During a 2017 episode of 'The Graham Norton Show', the 'High School Musical' star shared a memorable encounter involving Jackson. While dining with his then-director Kenny Ortega, Efron unexpectedly got the chance to speak with the King of Pop. Host Graham Norton set up the story, playfully noting, "I know that Michael Jackson was a real hero of yours—did you meet him, or you didn’t meet him?" Efron clarified, "No, no. I never [met him], but I talked to him on the phone." Intrigued, Norton pressed further, asking, "Yes. How did this happen?"
Efron hesitated for a moment before recounting the surreal experience. “I was in Paris with Kenny Ortega, and we were promoting High School Musical, so I was 20 or 21 at the time. We were at dinner, and somehow, I ended up at the head of the table while Kenny was on the other side. Suddenly, his phone rang, and he gave me this look like, ‘You want this?’ and I was like, ‘Okay,’” Efron recalled. Curious, he walked over and asked, “What’s going on?” That’s when Ortega told him, “It’s Michael Jackson,” before handing him the phone. “I was like, ‘Hello?’ and I heard, ‘Who’s this?’” Efron continued. “I said, ‘This is Zac Efron, I’m a massive fan, and I’m an actor. You’re like my hero.’ I didn’t know what to say—I was just at a loss for words and rambling on,” according to a report by The Independent.
Efron continued, “Then, he said, ‘That’s really nice. Can you get the phone back to Kenny?’ and I was freaking out—like, I just talked to Michael Jackson! He’s my hero.” Still in shock, Efron sat back down, feeling a little dizzy. Moments later, the phone rang again. “Kenny answered, and I saw him looking confused across the table. Then he looked at me again, kind of hinting, ‘Do you want to take this?’ So I picked up the phone again and said, ‘Hello?’” Efron recalled. This time, Jackson recognized him. “He goes, ‘Oh, this is Zac from High School Musical?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah,’” Efron said. “And then he goes, ‘Oh, I love what you do. I’m a huge fan.’”
Getting a compliment from Jackson was a big deal for Efron. As per Mashable, while talking about his reaction, the Emmy winner exclaimed, "And I lost it, I lost my balance I think I fell over into a wall. I started I was like 'You know?' I just started crying, I was a mess. Like literally I was just making a pull-up. I like slid down to the floor pathetically and professed how much I loved him, saying 'You're my hero. You're the reason I do what I do like thank you very much Michael for everything and thanks for showing me how to dance and how to you know believe in myself' and that made him cry, so we were both just crying to each other on the phone. And he ended the phone call with something along the lines of ‘Hey Zac, isn’t it awesome? Dreams really do come true don’t they?’“
Once the episode dropped, fans couldn't stop raving over the sweet conversation between Efron and Jackson. One social media user wrote, "By far the sweetest story ever! ......and now I'm crying." Followed by a second user who commented, "That's literally the nicest thing I've ever heard." Another user chimed in, "I think if there's anything weird about Michael Jackson it's the fact that even though people told him he was their hero all his life, it could still make him cry by 2009 (the last year of his life). He was such a humble, generous, and kind person but much too naive for this world in some ways. Long live the King."
