Zac Efron sparks concern wearing sunglasses on The Today Show a year after THOSE plastic surgery rumors

Zac Efron sparked concern while wearing dark sunglasses as he appeared on Wednesday's episode of The Today Show alongside the cast of The Iron Claw.

Before promoting his latest project, alongside fellow stars Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson and Stanley Simons, on NBC's morning news program, the 36-year-old actor took a moment to explain why he was wearing sunglasses indoors.

'It feels strange to be in the shadows! I just have a bit of an eye infection,” he told host Craig Melvin. 'But I really wanted to be here. It's such a good movie, and I want to come see you and tell everyone about it.”

The High School Musical star from San Luis Obispo, California, managed to hide any sign of his health condition behind his dark glasses, which also hid his expressions when he appeared on the daily live broadcast.

While previously discussing his role in The Iron Claw, in which he plays professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich, Efron admits that he initially felt “ridiculous” in his character's wardrobe, which consisted of a wig and skimpy wrestling shorts.

“In the best way possible, I didn't look like myself at all. It was a bit scary at first, but we put it together piece by piece,” he told The Hollywood Reporter at the film's premiere in Los Angeles.

He continued: 'Individually, the wig looks quite ridiculous on its own; on their own, the clothes look pretty crazy. When you put them all together in the sets that our team built and go into the ring under those lights, it looks like the Von Erichs, man, and that was our goal. I think it added a lot to it.”

The sports drama film tells the story of the Von Erich brothers, who made wrestling history in the 1980s, but are cursed with tragedy.

Efron also explained how seeing Kevin's reaction to the photo in real life made him feel “incredibly satisfying.”

For the role, he did volume training to gain 15 pounds of muscle mass and trained several hours a day.

In 2022, Efron revealed that he “almost died” after shattering his jaw and chin in a home accident, after revealing the truth behind the plastic surgery rumors that circulated a year earlier.

Ouch! Before promoting his latest project, along with co-stars Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson and Stanley Simons, on NBC's morning news program, the 36-year-old actor took a moment to explain why he was wearing sunglasses indoors.

'It feels strange to be in the shadows! I just have a bit of an eye infection,” he told host Craig Melvin. 'But I really wanted to be here. It's such a good movie, and I want to come see you and tell everyone about it.”

While talking about his facial transformation in 2021, the artist explained that his difference in appearance was due to a nasty accident at home.

In an interview with Men's Health Magazine, the actor recalled putting on a pair of socks while running to his house, causing him to hit his chin on a granite fountain.

The star explained that he lost consciousness but woke up with “his chin bone hanging from his face.”

The latest: Last month, Efron's fans were surprised by his unrecognizable face in a recent interview he did for Entertainment Weekly

Their questions: Fans seemed shocked when he appeared in the new interview, which was released in November

Efron said that when he was injured, the masseter muscles on the inside of his face and jaw “compensated” for his injury, increasing in size — hence his remarkable transformation.

He says this explains why he looked so different back then. 'The chewing muscles have simply grown. They just got really big.”

The star also claimed not to have known that he was a big talking point on social media and had in fact gone viral due to his different-looking jaw until his mother called to ask if he had gone under the knife.

“If I valued other people's opinions as much as they might think I do,” he told the magazine, “I certainly couldn't do this job.”