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"For Zac Efron, coming clean was just as transformative as getting clean. The&amp;#xA0;Neighbors&amp;#xA0;actor, who recently gave a revealing interview to the Hollywood Reporter about his struggle with addiction, told the Today show&amp;apos;s Matt Lauer on Monday, May 5, that he feels a sense of relief now that his story is out there.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;You know what, actually, it was a weight off my chest, I think,&amp;quot; the 26-year-old High School Musical alum said of the THR interview. &amp;quot;It was great. It was a fantastic time.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nOf his stint in rehab and the months preceding it, he added, &amp;quot;It was a rough year. It&amp;apos;s kind of funny&amp;#x2014;you know, Neighbors is such a great sort of icing on the cake for all this. I was able to kind of channel all of that and put it back into this movie. And I feel great,&amp;quot; he continued. &amp;quot;I feel really blessed to be here working with this group of guys. I don&amp;apos;t know&amp;#x2014;it couldn&amp;apos;t be better right now.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nCostar Dave Franco (James Franco&amp;apos;s younger brother) agreed, saying he thinks this film will be great for his image. &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;m really excited for Zac, just because I know a lot of people have this preconception of who he is, and once you see this movie, I think his teenybopper image is going to be completely shattered, and all these new projects that wouldn&amp;apos;t have come to him otherwise are just going to flood [in].&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nAs previously reported, Efron secretly completed a brief stint in rehab back in April 2013, for problems with cocaine and alcohol. &amp;quot;I was drinking a lot, way too much,&amp;quot; he told THR. &amp;quot;It&amp;apos;s never one specific thing. I mean, you&amp;apos;re in your 20s, single, going through life in Hollywood, you know? Everything is thrown at you. I wouldn&amp;apos;t take anything back; I needed to learn everything I did,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;But it was an interesting journey, to say the least.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/zac-efron-says-talking-about-addiction-is-a-relief-201455>