Hey everyone… great news! Zac has signed on for Friday’s Hope for Haiti telethon. I don’t know if he will present or help in the phone banks, but I’m so proud of him. Its a great cause, and I hope everyone is very generous. Other stars helping out are Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, Brad Pitt, Anna Kendrick, Bradley Cooper, Renée Zellweger, Chris Pine, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Colin Farrell, Rober Pattinson, and Emily Blunt, among many others.

George Clooney is set to host from Los Angeles, with Wyclef John in New York City and CNN newsman Anderson Cooper in Haiti.

If you want to donate, click here.

A massive earthquake hit Haiti late Tuesday, killing hundreds of people and wounding many more. The quake, measuring 7 on the Richter scale, has caused widespread damage in and around the capital Port-au-Prince, leaving a large number of people homeless and hungry.

The people of Haiti need food assistance as quickly as possible to prevent hunger worsening the misery already caused by the disaster.

This is said to be Haiti’s worst quake in two centuries. Every hour we wait means more lives are at risk. Donate now.

The Critic’s Choice Awards are happening this Friday, January 15, and Hollywood Crush will be live blogging from the red carpet starting at 8:30pm EST! The line-up is sure to impress, with A-list presenters including Adam Lambert, Zac Efron and Zoe Saldana, to name a few.

Kristin Chenoweth’s hosting the show, and Nick Jonas and the Administration will serve as this year’s house band. One of the most anticipated highlights of the show will be the tribute to John Hughes. John Krasinski and Amy Poehler will pay homage to the late director of such iconic films as “The Breakfast Club,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Weird Science.” The tribute will be followed by a musical performance by Death Cab for Cutie, who will play Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” from the soundtrack to “The Breakfast Club.” This is sure to be memorable!

Noms for leading films for Critics’ Choice Awards include “Avatar,” “An Education,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Invictus,” “Nine,” “Precious,” “A Serious Man,” “Up” and “Up in the Air.”

Other presenters set to appear are Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Emily Blunt, Bradley Cooper, Rob Corddry, Abbie Cornish, Josh Duhamel, Vera Farmiga, Heather Graham, Ed Helms, Samuel L. Jackson, Ken Jeong, Tobey Maguire, Tracy Morgan, Craig Robinson, Susan Sarandon and Sarah Silverman.

The Me & Orson Welles cast were just nominated for several BAFTA Awards on the Long List. Me & Orson Welles has been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Make Up & Hair, Editing, and Costume Design. In addition, Claire Danes and Christian McKay were also nominated for their roles as Sonja and Orson Welles. Congrats, guys!

Hey guys! Happy New Year!! I’m really excited for this year, I will definitely be updating Zac-E.Com a lot more regularly. Last year I had soo many computer problems and time away from home, but I’m re-dedicated now, so excpect TONS of updates.

Zac won Z100’s Hottie of the Year award, as voted by fans. Well deserved! For the full list, go to Z100.Com.

Not only is Zac Efron a total babe, he’s also a good boyfriend!

Just last night, he threw girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens a surprise 21st birthday party at East with about 100 of her closest friends.

“Zac made sure everyone she would want there was there,” a partygoer tells E! News, including Selena Gomez, Brittany Snow, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, High School Musical director Kenny Ortega and Vanessa’s songwriting team Tim James and Antonina Armato.

(Apparently, the doorman isn’t up to date on his Disney stars. Watch as he asks Ashley to ID herself and even asks Selena to spell her name before letting her inside the soiree!)

The evening’s only drawback? Zac really had a hard time keeping the bash under wraps, according to a restaurant source. “He said doing SNL was easier!” the insider tells us.

As for what he bought the birthday girl?

Z gave V a brand-new, high-tech digital camera. Let’s hope she uses it to take appropriate pictures this time, shall we?

About an hour into the party, Hudgens’ cake was presented.

“After she blew out the candles she made a sincere speech thanking everyone again and expressing her love for her family and friends,” says our source. “Then the DJ spun Kid Cudi’s remix of “Poker Face” and Vanessa danced with her friends.”

And while there’s no word if Vanessa celebrated her newly legal status with cocktails, our sources say the couple were “really cute” together, dancing and kissing throughout the night.

Brittany Snow did give her friend some advice on being 21 in front of the photogs, though. “Drink responsibly and take cabs,” she offered. We couldn’t agree more! - E! Online

In the long history of attractive young actors and the girls who scream and stalk them, few can translate that teen adoration into leading man respect.

Leonardo DiCaprio did it. Daniel Radcliffe hopes to do it.

But Corey Haim, Luke Perry, Ralph Macchio, Jason Priestley — they were all beloved in their time, yet none of them earned solid crossover appeal in the grown-up market. Indeed, “Eight Is Enough’s” Willie Aames, once the cute and funny boy girls wished they had next door, can now be found on VH1’s “Broke and Famous.”

The former heartthrobs can fall far when they attempt to make the leap into the big leagues.

But that doesn’t mean Zac Efron can’t try.

The “High School Musical” series star, 22, recently turned down the lead role in “HSM” director Kenny Ortega’s musical version of “Footloose,” craving more serious roles. He did this despite the huge success (and paychecks) the song-and-dance roles of the three “HSM” films have brought Efron, not to mention his star turn in the film version of the musical “Hairspray.”

So instead of ’80s pop, Efron is starring in Richard “Waking Life” Linklater’s indie “Me and Orson Welles,” heavy with Shakespeare and an artist’s philandering. He once again plays a precocious teen, Richard Samuels, but this time it’s as the young lover to Claire Danes’ older woman. And there isn’t a locker or high school gym in sight.

It’s a declarative move, proving Efron meant what he said when he hoped out loud he could one day find himself in a film with Martin Scorsese. It’s also quite a risky one.

The key to a smooth transition, said youth talent agent Robin Nassif, is Efron’s patience and focus.

“George Clooney was around for a long time before ‘ER’; I cast him in ‘Facts of Life,’ ” Nassif recalled as an example. “He had a little guest part on ‘Facts of Life,’ and he did quite a few failed pilots, quite a few failed series, but when that ['ER'] part came along, that was the part that made him a star. [It was] the part that made people say he could do movies.”

Lack of patience aside, there are a multitude of other factors that make one actor the next Johnny Depp and another destined for bit parts — or no career at all. It could be a case of poor management, or that rude, Hollywood awakening when the once-adorable teen grows up to be just an average adult.

Sometimes, said Lisa May, Nassif’s partner in the youth division at Diverse Talent Group, “they don’t evolve … they remain ‘the best friend’ or they just become a less attractive adult kid. It’s really how you grow, how you evolve, what you look like as a finished product.”

And then there’s the question of actual talent.

“They get themselves trapped into doing that one character, and they have a difficult time transitioning themselves from doing that,” said Diane Heery of Heery Casting. “Even while doing a show, [an actor] should be getting coaching from somebody or taking a class; being challenged to be somebody else.”

No one is more aware of these hurdles than Efron himself, who has repeatedly mentioned how much he looks up to one of the former teen idols who did make it, DiCaprio, and how closely he’s been studying DiCaprio’s career.

Continue Reading @ CNN

IFC did a lengthy really good interview with Zac. I thought it was really interesting!

In “Me and Orson Welles,” you ask Claire Danes’ character what it’s like to be a beautiful woman. So, on behalf of your squealing girls everywhere, what’s it like to be so dreamy?

[laughs] What’s it like? I don’t know. It’s not tangible, really. Anything you say here is kind of weird. It’s just the way that it is.

I’m being cheeky, but seriously, you’ve achieved a high level of success at such a young age. At 22, I certainly didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Do you feel like you won’t even be able to process some of these experiences until later?

Yes, most definitely. It’s been a whirlwind couple of years, a very exciting time. I feel like I’m in the height of living, and I’m just absorbing everything. That’s one thing that I’m addicted to at this point, having those achievements and raising the standard. That’s the best part of it all is that it’s growing, and there’s still room to grow.

But I’m sure there are some added pressures that come with fame, like with your appearance. I imagine you’re forced to look absolutely fabulous just to leave the house, while the rest of us can unashamedly run errands in any grubby old thing.

Yeah, there are small things you definitely miss. [laughs] The thing about it is if you comment on it, or talk about the negativity around it, it’s not really comprehensible to anybody. It’s one of the weirdest things to talk about with friends or family or anyone, to be honest.

There are little things you have to forgo. If you walk around in sweatpants and don’t shave or shower, or look a bit sleepy, there’s a high probability that there are going to be rumors out there that you’re on drugs or starting some sort of spiral downhill. So I’ve always tried to look my best, and look clean when I go outside. I think I owe it to everybody to show up well-groomed and put in a little effort. It’s the least I can do.

This film seems like a logical first step in transitioning to, for lack of a better term, an adult career. How self-conscious are you in planning out what you would like to do next, or five years from now?

You know, that’s a question I’ve been getting a lot recently. It’s like this is a chess game: “What are your next three moves?” Everybody wants to know, as if I’m looking that far down the line, or have some kind of strategy. But it’s really not the case at all, man. It’s more like surfing. I’m just riding it, not planning anything. I’m trying to follow my heart.

My judgment of what is a good film is developing over time, especially the more I work with great directors. I think the transition will come naturally, and I want it to come that way. I’m not going to calculate five moves to fame. To me, success is not victory. I’m trying not to let it become something that ever influences my decisions. In my mind, I’m not successful.

If you could pick any actor’s career of today or yesteryear, whose would you most like to emulate?

I guess Johnny Depp. Someone told me recently, “You should be like Johnny Depp and do something to change your image, something dark and messed up so people take you seriously.” I don’t think that’s what he did at all. He found a brilliant creative partner and mentor in Tim Burton, collaborated and came up with fantastic characters and great movies. I think that’s where I am right now, searching for that mentor. Not that I could ever try to copy those guys.

Continue reading at ifc.com. I love what Zac said about Johnny Depp and his career!

Here’s the video from Zac’s appearance on David Letterman where he was promoting “Me and Orson Welles”. It was a really good interview, Zac looked fantastic! I love when he’s on late night shows.