VIDEO: Zac Efron Admits His Fans Will Have To Grow With Him

Looks like Zac Efron is all grown up. The 22-year-old High School Musical actor took a leap from his typical roles with his latest film Charlie St. Cloud, set to premiere Friday. The film is about a young man who grieves over the death of his younger brother.

Though some fans may be confused by Efron’s move, it wasn’t without careful consideration. "I could do another musical," Efron told MTV News. "I could stick to my guns and try to do more of that. Try and do another cool musical and try to stick with that genre. [But] is that really what the fans want to see?"

Efron concedes the shift in roles may be difficult for his young female audience to accept.  "The only way that I know how to do that is to stay a little bit ahead of the audience. Experience life, make movies about those experiences, and by the time the audience catches up, and maybe realizes that life isn’t always like High School Musical, maybe they will have a movie that helps them through that next challenge that they face in life," the actor said. "I don’t want to look back and say I just made movies because it was fun, you know? I want to make movies because it’s challenging and it’s an opportunity to help people. Otherwise it’s just, you know, kind of selfish, I think."

The actor is currently in talks to star in the latest Nicholas Sparks’ film adaptation The Lucky One, about a soldier coming home from Iraq, as well as an action film with a Romeo & Juliet story line.

Watch it here: