Zac Efron In 'Firefly': Actor In 2002

Before he was a singing high school student, Zac Efron was a boy genius studying to be a doctor. In space.

Back in 2002, a 14-year old Efron made a guest appearance in the cult-classic sci-fi show "Firefly," Joss Whedon's space western. The soon-to-be "High School Musical" star played a young Simon, who, played by Sean Maher, was a crew member of Serenity, the smuggling ship of Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion).

Efron can be seen playing with some sort of tablet device and cursing in another language. It was his first major role, and four years later, his star would explode on the Disney Channel.

Now, Efron is filming the all-star ensemble romantic comedy "New Year's Eve." Not a bad career arc.

WATCH:

Comments

[sigh-ence]

02:55 PM on 03/14/2011

Can we bring back Firefly and get rid of at least one reality show?

[PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS]

12:15 PM on 03/14/2011

WOW! He was such a pretty young girl............ :p

[bradenton]

08:57 AM on 03/14/2011

I thought it was Jerry Garcia.

[WakingLife]

02:41 AM on 03/14/2011

I guessed right. I even knew where the pic came from. :D

I can't say I'm proud of that.

[Eleanor of Aquitaine]

02:48 AM on 03/14/2011

You should be proud of your Firefly fandom. It was a fantastic show.

[LadyRedundantWoman]

04:17 PM on 03/14/2011

Right on!

[auramac]

12:36 AM on 03/14/2011

Jeez, I thought it was Bjork.

[TheLibraryOfCodex]

11:17 PM on 03/13/2011

Awesome show.

Crazy decision to cancel it

[Christ Johnson1]

10:37 PM on 03/13/2011

i miss firefly

[cmckennaiv]

10:35 PM on 03/13/2011

How is this news?

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

07:19 AM on 03/14/2011

It's newsertainment.

[UserNameJane]

09:58 PM on 03/13/2011

Oh Wow, that was hard... Not

[Gronkie]

08:32 PM on 03/13/2011

I just recently watched all 14 episodes of Firefly and the full-length film sequel. I remember that episode, but didn't recognize Zac Efron at the time. It was a truly great show that was cancelled far too soon. If Fox had stuck with it, Firefly would have become one of the all-time great sci-fi series. If you like outer space dramas and you like westerns, you'll love this unique combination of the two. Fun stories, terrific action, hilarious and scary moments, and great male and female characters that you want to like even though they have serious moral flaws. Awesome show.

[Nicole Dixson]

07:54 PM on 03/13/2011

Johnny Depp? When did they start this foolish feature? It is just as bad as TMZ's "All Growed Up"

[Widespread Panic]

07:31 PM on 03/13/2011

I'm so embarrassed that my guess was right.

[UserNameJane]

10:00 PM on 03/13/2011

Dont feel bad, I feel bad for just clicking on.

[Widespread Panic]

10:02 PM on 03/13/2011

LOL Me too!!

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

07:23 AM on 03/14/2011

First we click on, then we comment and reveal that, yes we are idling away time like so many eyes glued to a screen. Really, I am just disoriented by the change to daylight time. That is why I am here before dawn.

[oxford85]

05:45 PM on 03/13/2011

A young Troy Bolton with less swag.

[Michael Mouton]

02:08 PM on 03/13/2011

Anna Paquin!

[Muzzle Me]

01:45 PM on 03/13/2011

Before his nose j@b, eh....