Zac Efron Says He Was "Scarred For Life" By His First On-Screen Kiss

11 July 2024, 12:10

By Sam Prance

"I kissed my co-star and she went: 'Did you eat fish for lunch?' And everybody laughed."

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Everyone's first kiss is different but what about a first on-screen kiss? Well, Zac Efron had a pretty traumatising experience.

In his career as a leading man, Zac Efron has had multiple iconic on-screen kisses. From High School Musical and Hairspray to The Greatest Showman and The Iron Claw, Zac Efron has kissed one of his co-stars on-screen in almost every single one of his projects. Most recently, Zac has starred opposite Nicole Kidman in A Family Affair and there are multiple kisses.

However, Zac has now revealed that his first on-screen kiss "scarred him for life" because of how his co-star reacted to it.

Read more: Nicole Kidman Defends Age Gap Between Her And Zac Efron In A Family Affair

Watch the A Family Affair trailer

Speaking to Elle, Zac said: "I was real young. It was my first kissing scene. It was on a show called Summerland and I didn't realise that eating fish right before that was probably not a good idea." For context, Summerland was Zac's first main role. He played Cameron Bale and kissed Kay Panabaker who played Nikki in the show.

Giving further context, Zac added: "I kissed my co-star and she went: 'Did you eat fish for lunch?' And everybody laughed. Yeah, I was scarred for life."

In a separate interview on The Graham Norton Show, Zac also said: "It ruined the first kiss for me. Poor Kay, I’m sorry. I promised I brushed my teeth. I learned a big lesson that day."

Describing the scene at the LA Teen Festival in 2010, Kay Panabaker said: "(The kiss) was weird, because I was 13 and he was 16. So it was kissing an older boy, and it was my first kiss ever. And it was totally embarrassing in front of the whole crew - they were all like my dads."

Kay did then add that Zac was lovely. She said: "So nice and so sweet and he still is."

Zac Efron and Kay Panabaker in Summerland. Picture: The WB

This isn't Zac's only negative experience with a kiss scene either. Speaking to Elle in 2019, Ashley Tisdale revealed that her kiss with Zac on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody was weird. She said: "I had to kiss Zac Efron on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and it’s the worst because I’m so close to him and he’s like my brother."

Ashley added: "At the time, he was used to acting on Warner Bros, which is The CW, and we were on Disney Channel, and he tried kissing me with his tongue. I was like, ‘Get away from me!’ I closed my mouth so fast. I was like, ‘This is Disney Channel! We don’t kiss like that on Disney Channel!’"