Zac Efron looks casual but cozy as he steps out in New York City in a form fitting sweater and jeans – after shocking fans with his appearance

Zac Efron looked casual but cozy as he stepped out in New York on Monday.

The 36-year-old actor, gearing up for his latest role in The Iron Claw, showed off the contours of his toned figure in a navy V-neck sweater and a white crew-neck T-shirt underneath.

The Gold star – who recently shocked fans with his apparent facial transformation in an interview – wore jeans with tan ankle boots as he left the Bowery Hotel.

His face was mostly clean-shaven with a hint of stubble, having grown the mustache he grew for his role as wrestling professional Kevin Von Erich.

The MTV Movie Award winner’s dark rake is cropped short and styled with loose ends on top of his head.

He completed the look with dark framed sunglasses.

This comes days after the star’s fans were amazed at his unrecognizable face in a new interview he did Entertainment weekly.

In the video interview, Zach was seen with his fuller jawline and facial transformation – something he explained in 2022 – revealing that it was the result of his shattered jaw after hitting his chin on a granite fountain – following rumors of plastic surgery had fueled .

“What happened to his face??” one fan wrote, annoyingly calling his face “big.”

Others compared him to characters like Thanos in Avengers and even went so far as to mention Prince Farquaad from Shrek.

Other fans reminded everyone of his previous shattered jaw.

In 2022, Zac appeared on the cover of Men’s health magazineand explained what happened to his face – after plastic surgery rumors have been circulating since last year.

In his interview, Zac revealed that he had a nasty accident at home that caused the massive transformation in his face.

The Iron Claw won’t hit theaters until December 22, but the film is already making waves after its world premiere in Dallas last week.

Zac stars with Harrison Dickson, Jeremy Allen White and Stanley Simons as one of the four sons of professional wrestler Fritz Von Erich.

With the guidance and coaching of their father, the brothers would create a wrestling dynasty, until it was torn apart by tragedy.

The actor was able to build a bond with the man he portrayed and narrated Variety the project received its seal of approval.

Zac spoke with the real Kevin Von Erich the night before the film’s debut in Dallas.

“I was very curious to see what he thought of the movie,” he told the outlet.

‘We went out to the patio, sat from front to back and talked about life for an hour and a half. And he told me he liked the movie.”

“I can’t really put into words what that feels like,” he claimed.

“It’s by far the most important review for me on so many levels. It meant the whole world, and everything just came full circle.”

During a question-and-answer session following a screening of the film in New York later that evening, it was revealed that cast members sang songs from High School Musical while a party scene was shot.

Zac told the audience that his dancing experience in the Disney musical franchise helped with the wrestling choreography, adding that he is “a physical learner, a visual learner.”

Co-star Jeremy Allen White, who also has a dance background, agreed, explaining to him that wrestling is “a mix of gymnastics with a dance component and also a martial art.” “Dance gives you a sense of your body in space, which is important in professional wrestling, so you don’t hurt yourself or others.”

Although no project has been greenlit, the late Matthew Perry, who died on October 28 at the age of 54, wrote in his memoir that if there was a movie about his life, he wanted Zac to star in it.

The two worked together during the making of the 2009 film 17 Again.

Zac played the younger version of Matthew’s Mike O’Donnell in the comedy.

“It would be an extraordinary thing to do,” he said Additional at the premiere of The Iron Claw. “We’ll see what happens.”

He added: “I looked up to him, I learned comedic timing from that man. I mean, when we were filming 17 Again, it was so surreal for me to look across and have him there, because I learned so much from him, from his whole life.”