Can Zac Efron, poster boy for musicals and best known for his stint in the hit Disney movie High School Musical, be tired of his clean image?

The boyfriend of Vanessa Hudgens told OK! Magazine Sunday night at the Teen Choice Awards, "I'm looking for something new and exciting to do.  I want to do something dark or a comedy.  There's tons of icons that I would love to work with on something new and exciting."

This is hardly literal, of course, so don't expect him to suddenly shed his clothes and start taking pictures of himself a la Vanessa Hudgens (or Miley Cyrus).  Efron, 20, is clearly looking for a change in terms of where his career is going.

Paramount Pictures have something else in mind, however, as they announced last year that Efron would be starring the lead role in the remake of Footloose, the 1984 musical comedy which starred Kevin Bacon.  It is slated for a 2009 release.

If Bacon's career path were to be any indication, however, it seems like Efron is off to a good start.  Since Footloose, Bacon has starred in several fairly dark films, such as Flatliners in 1990 with Kiefer Sutherland, a film about medical students experimenting with near-death experiences; Wild Things in 1998 with Matt Dillon; and most recently the critically acclaimed Clint Eastwood picture Mystic River.

For now, however, the San Luis Obispo, California-native has been in what people say is too many musicals, with High School Musical, High School Musical 2, High School Musical: Senior Year, and Hairspray.

In other news, High School Musical will be playing at Washing Park tonight, August 5, as part of Albany's 24th Annual Night Out.  This free screening of High School Musical at 8pm will be the highlight of day-long festivities.


-Glenn L. Diaz, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: OK!, CBS
(Image Courtesy of National Ledger)