Zac Efron's 'relatable' pasta moment sparks conversation about eating disorders and body image

Trigger warning: eating disorders

When actor Zac Efron dropped a surprise Netflix travel show about sustainable living, people were pleasantly surprised.

Titled Down To Earth, the documentary follows Efron travelling to countries like Iceland and Costa Rica to learn about wellness, living in an environmentally friendly way and enjoying pasta.

It’s the latter moment, which occurs when Efron visits Sardinia, Italy, to make his own pasta, that has set the internet alight.

As he chows down on a big bowl of the starchy stuff, Efron speaks about a period in his life when he didn’t eat carbohydrates and becomes visibly emotional.

“I’m so happy I’m eating carbs again,” the 32-year-old says, continuing:

I went years without eating carbs. 

When I shot Baywatch, I didn’t have a carb for six months. I almost lost my mind. 

You… you need this.

I still can’t get over how this diet of carbs and low protein is the exact opposite of everything any trainer has ever taught me. 

In a tweet that has racked up nearly 300,000 likes, Twitter user @ElleEmSee posted screenshots of the scene, writing alongside it:

Zac Efron almost being moved to tears by pasta is the most relatable thing I’ve ever seen on television.

But others think that the scene – and its relatability – has more worrying undercurrents.

People with experience of eating disorders spoke up to say they’d had very similar reactions during their recoveries.

That's not to say anyone who reacts in such a way will have experienced an eating disorder of course. Nor would we want to speculate as to whether that's Efron background or not. But it's definitely sparked conversation for people.

Some have argued that Efron’s tears at eating pasta are only ‘relatable’ because so many people have likely restricted their eating, as Efron spoke about doing himself.

People also used the opportunity to speak about the sometimes forgotten fact that men can often suffer in silence because eating disorders and body dysmorphia can be missed in young men, so normalised are unachievable male body types.

In fact, Efron himself was recently labelled as having a “dad bod” (meaning slightly ‘out of shape and doughy’ – aka standard) for not being as ripped as he has been in the past.

This obviously received some pushback.

Efron has also gone on record talking about how unrealistic his ripped physique is for most people – even himself.

Speaking on The Ellen Showlast year about his Baywatch body, he said:

That’s too big. 

For guys, that’s unrealistic. I’m telling you. I got very big and buff for that movie, but I don’t want people to think that’s the best way to be. 

Like, be your size… I don’t want to glamorise this.

The actor also said he “never” wants to be that ripped again.

Appearing on YouTube show Hot Ones in April, he told host Sean Evans that it made him too fixated on his appearance.

“That was actually a really important time to do Baywatch,” Efron revealed.

Because I realised when I was done with that movie I don’t ever want to be in that good of shape again. 

Really. It was so hard. You’re working with almost no wiggle room. You’ve got things like water under your skin you’re worrying about. Making your six-pack into a four-pack. S**t like that that’s just not… it’s just stupid, it’s just not real.

What is real is eating well and healthily, doing exercise for yourself, not for an unattainable ideal and feeling good about your body.

Plus pasta; pasta is very real (and delicious).

If you have been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this story, visit BEAT for further help and advice.