Zac Efron is Richard Samuels
Fri, 18 January 2008 at 11:59 am
Zac Efron has been confirmed to star in Me and Orson Welles, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Zac was spotted reading the Me and Orson Welles screenplay back in August.
The film is set in 1937 and the story centers on high school student Richard Samuels (Efron). While strolling the streets of New York, Samuels happens upon the yet-to-open Mercury Theatre and is noticed by its mercurial founder, Orson Welles (Christian McKay). The man lands a bit part in Julius Caesar, the production that catapulted Welles to the top, and spends the next week learning about life and love.
Welles will shoot mid-February and March in New York, London and the Isle of Man. Disney’s High School Musical 3: Senior Year will begin filming April 21st.

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149 Comments
eh.
second!!!!
third
oh and wow, he’s working a lot!
5th
YAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!
yey! another movie
So this fey little ******* is now taking work from more deserving actors? Boo Hollywood!
Alba was right about him, just a little boy caked in makeup.
oh can’t wait!
hi everyone
WOW TOO MUCH WORK
i guess we don´t gonna see him so much this months, too bad
12# yes
hope zacs better now, love you
i wish him look and i hope zac starts feeling better soon. Vanessa will be in Texas shooting her movie Will when Zac will be in New York shooting this new movie. I bet Zac and Vanessa will miss each other alot.
kool
zac is sooooooo
koool
love you soo much!!!
zac efron is the besttttttttttttttttttttttt!
wow.
hes hot in the picture. xD
wow.
hes hot in the picture. xD
zac is the bestttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!
Well done Zac
Well done Zac
love him
zanessa z making everything together vanessa z going 2 texas , zac 2 new york poor guys they will b away of eachothers 4 along time … i hope they spend the valentinesday together b4 they leave ..
they are working alot but gd 4 them …
LOVE ZANESSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVolmWyIgWk
WHAT ZAC AND VANESSA THINK ABOUT ZANESSA??
VIDEO!!!
Love him….great to see him getting the opportunity to do more film !
Please donate funds to The Zac Effron Foundation this Valentines day to raise money for his much needed sexual reassignment surgery to quash recent speculation about him being a ***** bender.
Please have your debit, or credit cards ready and please dial
1-800-GIVE-ZAC-A-WIENER
Thank you for your generosity
I WISH ZAC & VANESSA DO ANOTHER MOVIES TOGETHER BESIDE
HSM !! it would be great zac is a great actor & vanessa is very talented shez a great actress too i can’t wait to c her another movie WILL …
I LOVE U BABY V!!!!
ZANESSA ROX!!
first pageee
ouuu awesome zacc
congratulationnss!!!
i hope he is getting well!
ive dialed the 1-800 number but it’s not working.
yaayyyy we not gunna see him around but at least we get to see him on the big screen!
oh I LOVE HIM
thats all i can say
this movie sounds really good
Great news for Zac. Congrats! Sounds like most of the HSM stars will be in other movies before shooting HSM3. I’m sure this last film will be bitter sweet for all of them. Last movie together with all the original cast. Last movie together for Vanessa and Ashley bff’s. Zac and Vanessa, and all the rest. As Ashley has already said , I’m sure there will be a few tears shed during filming especially at the end when it wraps. For some reason this cast reminds me of the “Friends” cast with the chemistry. They are all really close onset and off. Guess that’s why they have such successful films. People can feel the connection they all have.
I for one, would love to see Zac and Vanessa do a dramatic Love Story. I think their infectious chemistry would appeal to a wide audience . Hopefully they will get that chance someday.
First I hope he’s feeling better. Great career move. It’s a good book
and I think Zac will be great as Richard , it will definately show a
different more diverse side to what we are used to. Congrats!
love him soo muchh
i can’t wait to see this film
the movie doesnt sound that good
but it haaaaaasssss to be if zacs in it!
i love him :):) hope hes feeling better xxxx
YEAAAAH, I LOVE U ZAC,
WELL DONE
oh dont hate on zac guys
hes an amazing talent and we all know that
i love that kid and im glad he got sucha great part!
i hope hes feeling better now
-loves zac forever
:]
Hope he is feeling better these days.
It is also good to hear that he will be getting away from the HSM frenzy and expanding his career in other types of films. Through Disney he became recognized, but if he is going to be accepted as a truly adult actor he needs these other gigs.
Good Luck to Zac. He seems like a fine young man who wants to be seen as more then just a pretty face.
I agree with zanessa 4 ever
Zac and Vanessa should do other movies together
Not just HSM
XoXo
sexual assignment surgery. he sure needs it!
Great news for Zac! So excited for him.
cindy @ 01/18/2008 at 12:33 pm
_____________________________
Another movie together sounds like a good idea but maybe wait a year or two. Maybe a storyline similar to the movie “Love Story” or “Sleepless in Seattle” or even ” Love Affair” or even ” Against All Odds”
sweeet! it will be interesting to see him be in a movie that is supposed to be from the 1930s.
hes not going to have any down time for a while though. but this is what he loves to do!
anyone watching the disney channel and watching the high school musical songs in other languages? pretty hilarious..
thats great news……well done zac…….
we will wait……….take care
cindy -
I agree with everything you said, it would be great to see Zac and Vanessa do another movie together, one that wasn’t a musical. I’m thinking some great love story in the same lines as Titanic or something, maybe a WW1 or 2 drama, wow, I can imagine Zac in a uniform. Ok, now I’m getting carried away, this is great news, I’m really looking forward to see this movie.
Erica,
I was thinking the same thing earlier about Zac and Vanessa in a Titanic or something similar type film or a military type film like Purple Hearts or Officer and a Gentleman . Zac would be awesome in a uniform. I’d love to see him with a crew cut too. I’m biased though cuz my husband is in the Army and I love military guys.
cool!
http://www.ashley-tisdale.nl
Im so proud of him. He really deserves this. Can’t wait when he starts filming.
i hope hes better now!!!!!
please say he is im kinda worried lol
anyway wow thats about 4 or 5 films hes in just this year wow
everyone wants him hes so popular now!!
=]
The description of the book “Me and Orson Welles” from Publisher’s Weekly: (Zac’s character’s going to have MORE THAN ONE love interest! - wonder who’ll be cast as the females? - who would you like to see?)
“This is the story of one week in my life. I was seventeen. It was the week I slept in Orson Welles’s pajamas. It was the week I fell in love. It was the week I fell out of love.” Thus does the precocious protagonist of Kaplow’s first adult novel summarize his adventures as a bit-part player in the landmark 1937 Mercury Theater production of Julius Caesar that helped catapult the 22-year-old Welles to the top of the entertainment world. Kaplow wastes no time setting up his unlikely scenario; after an impromptu sidewalk audition, Richard Samuels, a New Jersey high school student, lands the part of Lucius, a minor character. The conceit forms a nice counterpoint to the coming-of-age material, as Kaplow alternates scenes about Samuels’s high school and home life with a series of rehearsal passages that bring the brilliant but mercurial Welles to life. Samuels falls in love more than once: first with fellow high school actress Caroline, then with a lovely, flighty production assistant named Sonja who is also involved with Welles, and finally with Gretta, an aspiring writer. The climax features a colorful showdown between Samuels and Welles after the boy confronts the married Welles about his affair with Sonja.
Awesome!!!!!! He’s so talented, I’m so proud of him. This sounds like a great and challenging role to play… way to book it Zac!!!! : )
That’s a good film ruined. Shame.
God, you people sum up why you actually like him. Because ‘hez so hawt!”. I bet if he was ugly, no one would look two seconds at him.
he freaks me out big time….very very strange little boy.
cant wait!!!!
luv him he is so hot
I love Zac efron
Hmmmm . . . a few jealous people coming out of the woodwork today?
This down-to-earth young man will go far in Hollywood. He’s talented, levelheaded and has a good heart. He won’t even say anything bad about the evil Perez Hilton.
More power to you Zac Efron!!!
Do you think zac is going to do orson and welles.
I’m not sure if that is a smart thing to do.
Because he already has seventeen and high school musical 3
and maybe even footloose.
I think he has to do it more carefully.
Otherwise people are going to think: “O, it’s that zac efron guy again, don’t you think.
I mean vanessa is doing it carefully, and most people are really excited about it.
What do you all think?
Don’t get me wrong I’m a big zanessa fan.
ClaireBabyGirl @ 01/18/2008 at 1:57 pm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That’s a bold statement that is so not true!!! LOL, maybe you wouldn’t, but millions would. Look, it’s fine to have your own opinion, but your statement is foolish about “no one would look 2 seconds at him”.
Still laughing here, LOL
***-
Zac will get a chance to work with Richard Linklater on this one. He’s an esteemed director/writer. That probably sealed the deal for Zac. Actors are very capable of doing 3-4 movies a year without burning out.
is he really coming to london to film ?
gahhhh im gonna go and find him :]
#56 I don’t think “Footloose” was ever anything more then just a rumor. And he is definitely going to do “Me and Orson Welles” that’s the point of this post its confirmed. I only wonder how and if his recuperation time will affect this schedule, I mean he’s young and healthy but he’s still only human.
Hmm, well, now I am curies, didn’t Zac said that he didn’t want to do any sex scenes, something about wanting to at least a little of the ‘innocent’ image he gained through Disney? Maybe I just read that wrong, although, maybe there won’t be anything graphic, just hints of it, well, what do I know. I really like the little I’ve read about his character so far, heck it seems like a good movie.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Zackerido \o/
1001 utility hauahahauha
gosh bless him S2
much luv
S2 KEEP THE ZANESSA PRIDE ALIVE S2 yeeaaaahh
woot!
i am super excited for this film, and i think it will provide zac the opportunity to show his stuff!
as fans know from summerland and miracle run, he has the ability to do a lot more than high school musical/Disney films.
this story in particular sounds really interesting.
way to go, best of luck on your recuperation, and the upcoming SAG awards!
typecasting for sure!
April @ 01/18/2008 at 2:42 pm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Care to elaborate on that?!?!? I dare ya…
http://fenty6823.skyrock.com
im so proud of him! just shut up haters u.u
is he going to be in sag awards??
when is that??
please tell me
vanessa loves zac!
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff172/vanashbrenique/Zac%20Vanessa/6tn6muq.jpg
Aw, JJ you’re slacking c’mon! We girls at ZA knew about this early in the morning! You’ve got 5 vivacious girls here keeping tab on the latest Zac and Vanessa news. Next time we’ll give you a running start… so it’s at least fair.
http://zaangels.com/2008/01/18/efron-confirmed-to-star-in-me-and-orson-welles/#more-109
Damn, he’s just nonstop with the work. Good for him though.
audrey @ 01/18/2008 at 2:57 pm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, I don’t mean to be opposing… but I’m not sure if this is the way to go about promoting your site… it seems a little disrespectful to JJ when this is the place you met which led to your collaboration. It’s ok to put your site up, that’s fine… but to challenge JJ each time is borderline disrespectul… this is a part of his livelihood. You guys might want to talk about that.
BTW and FYI, he has to PAY for this stuff… which might take awhile to post…
I love him!
Hope that he starts getting better soon.
He’s working a lot!
He’s the best.
With all my love.x
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=fyOAKeivJvQ
Love him! Wow he’ll be in NY and London filming this one. Good for him. Maybe a change of scenery is what he needs to finally cut out of the Disney mold and hit the big screen again like he did in HAIRSPRAY.
It will probably be a welcome relief from all the paps!
Wonder how many of his leading ladies he will fall in love with over the course of these films.
yes he gonna b in anotha film! itz a busy yr for zac aint it? seventeen.. hsm3… and now this!
is he gonna b filmin in london???
He doesn’t want to do sex scenes because everyone will know that he has a rubber Ann Summers ******* where his genitals are supposed to be. Let the man keep his pride you heartless ********.
yes he gonna b in anotha film! itz a busy yr for zac aint it? seventeen.. hsm3… and now this!
is he gonna b filmin in london???
hope his feelin betta now ***
Zac The Cockeater @ 01/18/2008 at 3:12 pm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Get your mind out of the gutter long enough to see that what you say is false
Steph is right.
Even Jared doesn’t go on other sites and put them down. If you want to promote your site, that’s fine, but please don’t do it by being disrespectful to Jared.
Don’t forget, he has the power to block you from his site, just as you now have the power to delete/block negative comments from your site.
It was meant as a light hearted poke, we’re excited about our site. *shrugs* sorry if you took it as disrespectful.
No worries audrey… just trying to be fair. Glad to know your site is doing well..
Finally a movie without all those little disney girls hanging on him. Hope they soon part ways for good so both he and V can pursue careers without worrying about all this Hollywood gossip stuff.
None of us are naive enough to think this teenage romance will last when HSM#3 is done. Both will move on to bigger and better things. Couples come and go in Hollywood like yesterday’s news once they become famous and lose their innocence.
he’s so gorgeous.
Ewww……
how many movies is he singning onto? hsm3 was supposed to be fliming now but he has been in the hospital and it is in april!!!!
YAAYY FOR THE ISLE OF MANNN!
klfjgv3relsd
great news!! congrats Zac!!!
Please donate funds to The Zac Effron Foundation this Valentines day to raise money for his much needed sexual reassignment surgery to quash recent speculation about him being a ***** bender.
Please have your debit, or credit cards ready and please dial
1-800-GIVE-ZAC-A-WIENER
Thank you for your generosity
DUDE WTF?????
Please give donations for babypuff @ 01/18/2008 at 4:00 pm !!!!
babypuff needs a much needed character adjustment!!! PRONTO!!!!
Please send your donations to:
Need a new Character
1234 Good Character St
I’m a good person, USA 01234
Or email babypuff at helpmetobegoodbabypuff.com to read her bio on why babypuff is so negative. Also to get an exclusive look on babypuff’s bio “How I became so unhappy”.
w0o0oow otra pelicula mas de zaaac!!
soy taan feliiiz!!! =)
me enkanta la idea de que saldran muchas mas
peliis de el…
HSM3
seventeen
y Me and Orson Welles
eso0 es zaAac!!! =**
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!! Can´t wait, it´s gonna be awesome :D:D
This is six kinds of awesome and then some hehe. Linklater rocks the kasbah..if you haven’t seen A Scanner Darkly go watch and bow down to the genius. This will do wonders for Zac’s career..can’t wait to see him in it
congrats zac!!
i want zzac and nessa to act together in another movie other that hsm!
it would be great to see them in a more serious movie
cant wait to see hsm 3 tho!!
AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Steph @ 01/18/2008 at 4:25 pm
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I don’t think babypuff post it this is original post
T Vox @ 01/18/2008 at 12:20 pm
babypuff was saying
DUDE WTF?????
Good for him! No more musicals for him :3
Wow….. OOPSSSSSS
So sorry babypuff…. usually people divide the comments… must look at it closely next time… man I was going off there…
EVERYONE I F’D UP ON BABYPUFFS MESSAGE.
Sorry again… Thanks Wow for pointing that out…. I’ll be available at 6:00p for stoning….
Sorry again babypuff… I got a little excited there….. ugh, I feel so bad.
babypuff, I reported abuse on myself for JJ to remove hopefully. LOL! I AM AN A**, please forgive me… sorry again.
I guess there’s no relaxing marked on his calendar.
I think he will do amazing in this film. It excites me that he’s choosing different films because that is how the stars keep strong footholds in Hollywood. I’m sure he’ll be around for years to come.
I do worry about him and vanessa. I hope they pull through and realize that they love each other and can start a life together after they work.
OMG YAY! A NEW MOVIE! omg I LOVE YOU ZAC!(L)
OMG, Steph that was so mean! And FUNNY! I litterally fell off my bed laughing. That was a good one, eventhough it wasn’t to the right person, it was still great. I so needed that.
Ashley2, I’m so embarrassed!!! I feel awful! I did report abuse on myself… LOL I don’t want to see if my posts are still there…… YIKES
http://x17online.com/
zac, van and ash
aw, no wonder he had to have his appendix taken out, he’s seems like he must be so stressed with all the work he’s taking on!
This movie will be a great vehicle for Zac to show his range as an actor! I’m really happy to see directors and producers are willing to take a chance on him, and we know he’ll prove himself!! And woo-hoo for us East Coast angels!!
OMFG HE’LL BE IN NEW YORK. IM GOING!
What about West Coast Angels Go Sox?/!?!?? Troy and I want a Wooohooo!!! LOL
YAY!
Filiming is in March narf…. darn!!!!! Missed it again!!!
I will not be visitng the ZA site if they continue to disrespect Jared. After all, he does an amazing job tracking a hundred stars whereas they only have to watch two.
anyone know when that pic of vanessa with that ‘heart ze’ on her hand was taken??
ZANESSA FOREVER!!!!!!!!
Great
New board : http://z15.invisionfree.com/JKJ_Board
evelyn @ 01/18/2008 at 5:34 pm
anyone know when that pic of vanessa with that ‘heart ze’ on her hand was taken??
—————————————————————————————–
If you go to gossipgirls.com the pix is on Page 9 of Vanessa’s pix I couldn’t find date but it looks like its from last week or so. Check it out you may have better luck.
Thanks God Zac is OK.
I Love Zanessa.
Go sox, east coast angels WOOOHOOO!
Yeah Steph, you missed it. But by march he won’t be in NY anyway.
Hey guys look at this http://x17online.com/celebrities/zac_efron/zacs_back_from_the_hospital_with_vanessa_by_his_side-01182008.php Vanessa is with Zac at Paty’s, just yesterday with Ashley
wow! can’t wait to see the movie! vanessa’a gonna be in a movie soon to in texas so zanessa will be apart!!!:(
#109 LOL I think if we West Coas Angels want a Woo Hoo we’re going to have to it ourselves Steph. WooHOO GO WEST COAST ANGELS!! LOL *High fives Steph*
Oh my God!!! Zac will be on the Isle of Mann!!!! *collapes and hits the floor with a thud* That’s about an hour from where i live. I’m SOOO there!!!! Never thought he’d be so near me! random bit of info: my gran got engaged on that island! lol.
Can’t hear you west coast angels because the east coast Angels are yelling to loud.
WOOOHOOO!
WOOOHOOO!
The X17 pics at Paty’s are from today. They’re dated Friday, January 18th.
After a nasty bout of appendicitis, Zac Efron was released from Cedars Sinai this afternoon - and into his girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens’ waiting arms!
We caught the High School sweethearts bolting out the back door of Patty’s restaurant in Toluca Lake together (with their friend Ashley Tisdale) just a few minutes ago.
That Zac sure bounces back quick, huh? Fresh out of the hospital and he’s already running around?
*high fives troy* Woot Woot!!!! Woohoo!!! West Coast Angels!! LOL
Congratulations ZAC !!!! You’ re AWESOME !!!!!!! GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE !!! LIVE in LOVE ZANESSA !!!!!!
hottie
i loveee him!!!!!!!!
I love you so much ZAC !!!!!
weird pic….but YAYA!!! CONGRATULATIONS MR EFRON!!! can’t wait to watch all these movies!
Glad to see Zac was able to get out but it is obvious he’s not going to be out doing any jump shots too soon! LOL Within another week I’m sure his strength will be back. I wonder how soon he will be able to go back to work to finish Seventeen?
Those of you who are worried that Zac and Vanessa will be apart while they film their separate movies: I think they probably have a plan for that. They have been apart just this past year as long as 2 weeks at at time. Also, when Zac was filming Hairspray, Vanessa was on tour all over the world and it was reported that they burned up the cell phone lines, etc. It didn’t break them up then and now that they are much more “involved” with each other there is more understanding and trust there so I wouldn’t get all worried just yet. Also, when they were apart due to her touring and his filming of Hairspray they were known to see each other whenever they could work it into their schedule. Now that each have a little more clout and are older, I would say that would still be a real possibility. WE may not know about everything they will do to stay connected but I believe they will. They’re still in that “honeymoon” phase of their relationship and they will work harder at it at this point.
This is great for Zac as he will be able to—in a short amount of time—be able to show his talents for comedy, drama, and music. He’s being very wise and taking hold of the brass ring as it is offered to him. Also, I think Vanessa knows she has to do the same even though it may mean a little sacrifice will have to be given. I’m sure they have discussed this and know what they are doing.
Lastly—thought I’d make my post count(LOL)—I doubt that there will be some graphic love scenes for this movie. It is from the 30’s and he has multiple loves as a teenage boy. And since on e romance begins and ends the same week I would imagine that some of these will pass very quickly on screen.
Oh yes, I wanted this to happen. GO ZAC! I love you
jared, surely you have a better picture of him on file that you could have used!
can’t wait to see it
Their due to start filming HSM3 on my birthday 21st April wish I could be their what a great birthday treat, ah well can’t wait for the film to be on the big screen.
I’m sure like Karen that they will find time to be toegther and in this buisness they know that they have to be apart for some time becuase of the work they do but they are still together after 2 and a half year’s so they’ve obvioulsy learnt how to make it work even though the sacrifice is sometimes they don’t get to see each other probably as much as they would like.
But as the saying goes absent makes the heart grow fonder and I’m sure that they find ways to communicate in this day and age it would’nt be hard. As Zac has said when two people know how to communicate their will always be chemistry, and I’m sure that like anyother couple who have to be apart sometimes through work that they make up for it when they reunite and spend some quality time together before and after their trips.
Glad that Zac has got another movie too, but I bet they’ll all be a bit sad when HSM3 finishes filming as it has turned out to be such a big part of their lives and given them all grat opportunity’s so I’m sure that they will always be grateful for it.
Good luck to them all and I hope that Zac and Vanessa have a nice Valentine’s Day what ever they decide to do on it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SAWiWxm0bKU
P-E-R-F-E-C-T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
East coast Angels rule!!! WOO-HOO!!!…..love ya, west coasties!! ;o)
OmG!!! Zac is coming to London! Im like, an hour away from there!!! WOO HOO!!
i am so meeting him! *faints*
*come back from the faint* annway, what the heck is this all about the “East coast Angels” and the “West Coast Angels”? i dunno wot it iss lol
Zac Is 100% Zexy
Oiie adoroo O zac..
amOoo VC zac