Zac Efron, the star of Hairspray and the High School Musical trilogy hosts tonights episode of Saturday Night Live. This will be Efron's first time hosting the series. "Saturday Night Live," the musical guest will be the 'Yeah Yeah Yeahs'. Efron's episode airs tonight, April 11th at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Efron was recently presented with the honor of 2009 breakthrough performer of the year at ShoWest's Final Night Banquet and Award Ceremony on Thursday, April 2nd, at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas.
Zac Efron played the singing teen basketball star Troy Bolton in the hit TV movie High School Musical. Efron grew up in Southern California and began acting in his early teens, making his way into guest-starring roles on the TV shows E.R. and Firefly. He played an autistic twin in the made-for-cable movie Miracle Run (2004, with Aidan Quinn) and starred as a reluctant jockey in the formulaic racehorce flick The Derby Stallion in 2005. The same year he joined the cast of Summerland, as Cameron Bale and he became an instant hit with young female fans.
He took another heartfelt teen role in the 2006 Disney cable movie High School Musical (with Vanessa Anne Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale); the movie was a surprise hit and Efron starred in sequels in 2007 and 2008. He also played the role of Link Larkin in the 2007 big screen musical remake of John Waters's Hairspray starring John Travolta and Amanda Bynes. He will next be seen in the upcoming film "17".
NBC's Emmy Award-winning late-night comedy showcase, began its 34thrd season on September 13, 2008 (11:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. ET) for another year of laughs, surprises and great performances.
Over the last thirty years, "SNL" has launched the careers of many of the brightest comedy performers of a generation and as "The New York Times" noted on the occasion of the show's Emmy winning 25th Anniversary special in 1999: "In defiance of both time and show business convention, "SNL" [is] still the most pervasive influence on the art of comedy in contemporary culture." At the close of the century, "Saturday Night Live" placed seventh on Entertainment Weekly's list of the Top 100 Entertainers of the past fifty years.
Thus far, the program has won 19 Emmy Awards and been nominated for more than 80. "SNL" has been honored with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award and cited as "truly a national institution." Most recently, "Saturday Night Live" was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame by the National Association of Broadcasters. The show continues to garner the highest ratings of any late-night television program, entertaining millions each week.
