Awkward moment Zac Efron is asked about his face transformation only for him to reveal he nearly died

Zac Efron's fans will know that the actor's face looks pretty different to how it did during his High School Musical days - but he hasn't had plastic surgery.

The rumor mill has been churning in recent years in regards to Efron's jawline in particular, with many questioning if he'd gone under the knife or had filler in his face to change his appearance.

And questions have been swirling once again of late in the wake of his new movie A Family Affair dropping on Netflix.

In the film, Efron plays obnoxious movie star Chris Cole who ends up dating his intern's mom [Nicole Kidman].

Since its release, some viewers have claimed that they were 'distracted' over Efron's different-looking face and posed the question of why it changed.

But the 36-year-old actor's larger and stronger looking jawline is nothing new.

Over a decade ago, Efron suffered a serious injury in his home that left him with a shattered jaw.

He'd been running through his home in 2013 in a pair of socks when he slipped and hit his face on a granite fountain.

People have raised questions about Zac Efron's changing face over the years. (MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Efron's jaw bone was reportedly hanging off his face following the fall and he was forced to have it wired shut.

While many people know about his accident, the actor still faces questions about people's plastic surgery speculations.

Ahead of the release of his AppleTV movie The Greatest Beer Run Ever in 2022, Efron sat down with Entertainment Tonight.

He was asked by the reporter in regards to the plastic surgery rumors: "What do make of the speculation online?"

"I don't really read the internet," Efron replied. "It was funny. It sucked. I almost died," he went on to say of his 2013 accident.

As to why Efron's jaw looks particularly wider than it once did, he has previously explained that different muscles in his face had to work harder to compensate for his devastating injury.

As of 2022, he was still undergoing physical therapy to try correct this.

Noting that he had to take some time off from therapy, while filming the second season of Down to Earth with Zac Efron in Australia, he told Men's Health: "The masseters just grew. They just got really, really big."

The masseter muscles a pair of muscles in the jaw that are responsible for chewing and are located on both the left and right side of your face.

While Efron looks undeniably different, I think we can all agree the actor is still pretty darn handsome.