For Zac Efron’s characters, stereotype isn’t a  word. There are many characters Efron has played that break stereotypes, but here are the most favorite or most popular.

Troy Bolton isn’t your average star highschool basketball player. East High’s star captain Troy Bolton, played by Zac Efron, has a new talent and is scared to show it off. Being the popular boy, he has to “stick to the stuff you know”.  Being something that isn’t what everyone wants him to be isn’t right in the world of High School Musical.

After Bolton sings at karaoke with a new girl, Gabriella Montez, he isn’t so sure his heart is set on basketball. He starts to admire theatre arts and wonders what his friends and teammates would think of him, especially coach, his dad. Gabriella is a brainiac and still questions if she will choose academics or theatre. While they tryout for the lead roles last minute, their best friends try to plan how they can get them back. Nobody wants Troy or Gabriella to be different. They have to “break free” when everyone wants them to “keep their head in the game.”

The stereotype of the popular kid, star basketball player, coaches kid, is that they make fun of the people in theatre arts and people who aren’t “jocks”. They aren’t expected to be one of them. Then they later realize their friends also have differences. Martha Cox is a brainiac who wouldn’t be known as a dancer, but can “break down on the dance floor”. Zeke Baylor is a basketball player, but reveals that he is a baker. Breaking stereotypes is what needs to happen. People are so caught up in stereotypes, they live up to them to the point where they aren’t being true to themselves.

Troy Bolton wasn’t the only breakthrough character Efron has played. Phillip Carlyle from The Greatest Showman  has made a difference.  Phillip is a young playwright who lives in misery besides his popularity. His family is rich and is invited to many parties. He is a heavy drinker and accused of being a scandal. This isn’t the life Carlyle wants. He wants to be known for something.

So he joins the Phineas Taylor Barnum circus. The circus where misfits belong. He meets a misfit named Anne Wheeler her difference is being african american. They fall in love but it’s forbidden love. They are seen holding hands and Carlyle pulls away because he’s embarrassed. He defies all stereotypes and makes everything right.

Carlyle’s stereotype is, stuck up rich play writer who has no heart. And he proves he can love, and proves he can love whoever he chooses even if it hurts his reputation.

These two characters, Troy Bolton and Phillip Carlyle, are alike because they have to break through what people think they are to prove themselves different and they aren’t what people expect them to be.

We can’t choose what other people’s lives are going to be and what career they are going to have. These characters show us that.