Zac Efron references the shocking real-life accident that left him broken his jaw in his new romantic comedy “A Family Affair.”

Zac Efron references his shocking real-life jaw injury in his new romantic comedy “A Family Affair.”

The 36-year-old US actor has returned to the screen as the male lead in the Netflix film, with Nicole Kidman playing his lover.

He plays the fictional, superficial and vain movie star Chris Cole, while Nicole plays the writer Brook Harwood, the mother of his long-suffering assistant Zara (Joey King).

In one scene, a romance begins to blossom between Chris and Brook as they settle into a couch and tell stories about their injuries from the past few years.

Chris tells Brook that he had surgery on his chin after a fall – a direct reference to Zac’s real jaw injury.

Chris says, “I did have surgery though. I fell on set, glass shards,” before raising his head to show Brooke the scar on the underside of his chin.

The story bears strong similarities to Zac’s real-life accident, in which he broke his jaw after slipping at home and hitting his chin on a fountain.

Viewers also took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to comment on Zac’s changed appearance in the film, after the horrific accident gave him a fuller and more angular jawline.

Since many do not know the reason for his changed appearance, someone wondered, “What happened to Zac Efron’s face? Did he get a lot of fillers?”

Another said: “I’m watching A Family Affair. What happened to Zac Efron’s face?”

A third commented: “Zac Efron’s face looks so stiff but he’s still cute,” and a fourth wrote: “Why does Zac Efron’s face look different? Did something happen?”

Another added: “I just started watching ‘A Family Affair’ on Netflix and guys what happened to Zac Efron’s face? Surgery? Or makeup for the movie?”

In 2022, Zac recounted the horrific accident in which he broke his jaw after being confronted with rumors of plastic surgery.

Zac told Men’s Health Magazine that while jogging in his socks at home, he slipped in a puddle of water and hit his chin on a granite fountain.

He recalled losing consciousness after the horrific accident in 2013 and waking up to find his chin bone “hanging out of his face.”

Zac explained how the chewing muscles on the inside of his face and jaw “compensated” for his injury and grew larger, resulting in a changed jaw shape.

“The chewing muscles simply grew. They really got very, very big,” he said of the shocking accident.

Zac later told Entertainment Tonight that he almost died after this strange injury, explaining, “It was funny. It sucks. I almost died, but everything is OK between us.”

The “High School Musical” star claimed he was unaware that his transformation had gone viral on social media until his mother told him about the plastic surgery rumors.

“My mom told me. I never really read much on the Internet, so I don’t really care,” he admitted.

At the time, Zac’s friend Kyle Sandilands also denied the rumors that the Baywatch star had undergone plastic surgery.

“I would know if he had had plastic surgery,” Australian radio host Kyle explained at the time on the “Kyle And Jackie O Show.”

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