Zac Efron may be loved by teenage girls around the world, but he’s trying his best to step away from his “High School Musical” days and focus on becoming a more well-rounded actor.

The 25-year-old has appeared in a handful of independent films over the last few years, including “Me and Orson Welles,” “The Paperboy” and more recently “At Any Price,” for which he attended the premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 19.

Efron briefly chatted with HuffPost Celebrity on the red carpet, admitting he doesn’t know how he became an “indie darling.”

“I don’t know,” he told reporters of what inspired him to make a commitment to films outside of mainstream production. “I’ve been doing a lot of interviews with Dennis [Quaid] and his words of wisdom are sort of just fresh in my mind. Dennis says the only role he sort of had for himself in this career is to do as many different types of movies as possible and never stop stretching or trying something new, particularly roles that challenge you. And working with great directors,” he added, “That’s really all I want to do.”

HuffPost caught up with Quaid at the screening as well, who coincidentally echoed Efron’s sentiments: “The only strategy I’ve ever had is to play as many different types of roles as possible.”

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Q: Was Zac Efron interested in NASCAR racing before filming At Any Price? —Megan P., Denver

A: “I was completely new to it,” says Efron, 25, whose character pursues a NASCAR career in the film (in theaters April 24). Despite his inexperience, Efron did his own driving. “They just put me in a car and said, ‘Go!’ At one point, I got up to 140 miles per hour. It was a rush!”

Online Extra: Which star did Zac Efron have a childhood crush on?

“I had a poster of Tyra Banks in my bedroom. She was the only girl I really had a crush on. Other than her, the rest of my posters were skateboards, BMX bikes, and Tony Hawk,” he says. Efron hasn’t met Banks yet, adding “I hope we get to hang out soon. [laughs] I haven’t gotten to meet her yet.”

Source: PARADE

Make sure you check out the official website for Zac’s upcoming movie At Any Price at SonyClassics.com. Several new promotional stills from the film’s website can now be found in the gallery.

MOVIES > AT ANY PRICE (2012) > POSTERS & PROMOTIONAL STILLS

According to The Hollywood Reporter, At Any Price is set to premiere at the 39th Telluride Film Festival.

A number of films will head directly to Telluride from their world premieres at the concurrent Venice Film Festival: Xavier Giannoli’s comedy Superstar, which looks at what happens when a man suddenly becomes famous; Ariel Vroman’s The Iceman, a dramatic feature in which Michael Shannon plays the real-life Mafia assassin Richard Kuklinski; Ramin Bahrani’s At Any Price, in which Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron play a father and son brought together to defend their family farm; Stories We Tell, a documentary in which actress-director Sarah Polley explores her family’s secrets; and Wadjda, the first feature from Haifaa Al Mansour, a female director overcoming the odds in her native Saudi Arabia to tell the story of a young girl who wants a bike.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter