'Greatest Beer Run Ever' takes Zac Efron 'outside of my comfort zone' and into Oscar territory
TORONTO – "Zac Efron, Oscar nominee" could be an actual thing.
The star of the upcoming war dramedy “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” finds his character forced into foxholes and bunkers in Vietnam, a fish out of water with a bag of Pabst Blue Ribbon amid battle. And that’s when the former “High School Musical” heartthrob captures a gravitas that might make motion picture academy voters pay attention.
Those scenes also were the most natural for Efron. “In the purest sense, it really took the acting part out. I didn't have to really pretend,” the actor tells USA TODAY a few hours before the world premiere of “Beer Run” at the Toronto International Film Festival. That surrounding sense of war is “ingrained in me visually. I've never experienced anything like that. It felt real. I got a little taste of what it might have been like.”
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Directed by Peter Farrelly and based on the real-life exploits of John “Chickie” Donohue in the late 1960s, “Beer Run” (in theaters and streaming on Apple TV+ Sept. 30) stars Efron as a New Yorker thinking about his buddies from the neighborhood fighting in Vietnam. With public war sentiment leaning negative, Chickie decides to go on an epic adventure: take beer cans from the local bar and travel overseas to deliver them personally to his friends. Of course, they think he’s out of his mind, and Chickie discovers how dangerous the situation really is.
When playing real-life figures like Chickie and serial killer Ted Bundy in 2019’s “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” “there’s some added value in taking it seriously,” says Efron, 34. “At the front of your mind is definitely the importance of portraying the character so that Chickie himself will enjoy it and that it's something that his family would enjoy and be proud of and that's honest and truthful by their accounts. That becomes very, very important.”
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Efron credits Farrelly’s writing as a big help, “weaving this very emotional, somewhat serious but also humorous undertone (with) potentially dark subject matter. And he just is better than anyone I've ever seen do it. I knew this was the right place to take this chance.”
“Beer Run” is the second dramatic effort from Efron this year: He also starred in the indie survival thriller “Gold,” a transformative role that turned his leading-man looks into a grotesque mass of sunburned flesh. “I really enjoy trying things outside of my comfort zone,” he says. “I love this craft.”
Farrelly’s last film, 2018’s “Green Book,” received two Academy Award acting nominations (and a supporting actor win for Mahershala Ali). With Toronto a major launching pad for potential Oscar runs, “Beer Run” gives Efron a real spotlight for his acting range.
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If the academy comes knocking at his door? “I'd probably call the police,” Efron jokes. “We're about to be raided. Am I being kicked out of the country?” When it comes to awards, he says, he doesn’t think about them too much: “I love the idea of reaching high and trying to make fantastic films and elevating. So anything that happens outside of that is a byproduct of what you really love to do.
“It'd be interesting (to be nominated), but really, the goal here is we made a cool movie that we're passionate about. That's mission accomplished.”
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Although Farrelly doesn’t stress much about awards season either, the director “would love” to see Efron garner strong Oscar consideration “because he deserves it. His performance is impeccable.” Efron reminds him of John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever”: “He’s a flawed character who does some things wrong, but he always means well, his heart's in the right place and he's really easy to love.”
Efron next stars in “The Iron Claw,” a drama directed by Sean Durkin (“The Nest”) about the Von Erich pro-wrestling family. Some years ago, he learned that he loved “working with directors that have a vision” and that has led to meaty roles where he can collaborate and experiment.
“It really reinvigorated me to work with Pete (on ‘Beer Run’) and to make this level of story everything you want in moviemaking," Efron says. "Who knows what the future holds, but of course I'd love to do more stuff like this.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Zac Efron's 'Greatest Beer Run Ever' has Oscar potential
