10 Performances That Changed Your Mind About Actors You Hate In 2017

A specific actor's name on a movie poster is often enough to pack out cinema auditoriums. In many cases, it's a seal of quality. Even if the film itself turns out to be a dud, some stars are never anything less than a joy to watch on the big screen.

Then there's the flipside of the coin: the actors everyone loves to hate. Their name among the credits is a massive red flag in the eyes of some film fans, and challenging these long-held preconceptions takes some doing.

Some actors are roundly despised, often for good reasons, but occasionally they put in performances that might surprise you. Petulant prima donnas have been known to set their egos aside and earn a standing ovation at film festivals, and washed-up actors have overcome their past troubles and recaptured their former glory.

Some of 2017's best performances didn't come from the film industry's darlings, but the stars many see in a negative light, actors whose name on the credits would normally be enough to put you off buying a ticket...

Zac Efron got his start on High School Musical and that instantly propelled him to heartthrob status and saw his face and plastered on the walls of every tween bedroom across the world. That's the kind of thing that creates enemies, and Efron didn't help his cause by building his post-Disney career soley around his pretty-boy persona.

After making a string of mostly bad comedies, Efron recently returned to musicals for the first time in more than a decade when he starred as rich-kid playwright Phillip Carlyle in Michael Gracey's The Greatest Showman.

The film recounts the showbiz career of the legendary circus impresario P.T. Barnum through the medium of song and dance. It isn't the greatest musical you'll ever see, but nor is it short on wonder, spectacle and strong performances.

Efron, in particular, shines alongside lead actor Hugh Jackman, relying on good old-fashioned razzmatazz, rather than his fresh-faced good looks as he blasts through one great musical number after another. Their bar scene duet is brimming with showmanship and is one of the highlights of the movie. Moreover, the Bad Neighbours star also has great chemistry with Zendaya, and it really comes out during the power-pop ballad they perform on the trapezes.

Maybe there's more to Efron than just a pretty face after all.