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Zac Efron on Ted Bundy’s ‘white privilege’: A person of colour couldn't have gotten away with any of those things

Danny Thompson
·Contributor
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 24: Zac Efron attends the “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” European premiere at The Curzon Mayfair on April 24, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage)
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 24: Zac Efron attends the “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” European premiere at The Curzon Mayfair on April 24, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage)

Zac Efron believes Ted Bundy was able to kill so many women and evade capture for so long due to his ‘white privilege’.

Efron, who plays Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile, a movie about the life and crimes of the serial killer who killed more than thirty women.

The former High School Musical idol told Sky News: “Friends or more distant family or anyone that knew him at school described him as a fun-loving, very smart, intuitive young Republican.

Efron found fame in High School Musical (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Efron found fame in High School Musical (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

“He had every kind of white privilege; he was good looking, he had things going for him. That right there makes this unique.

“A person of colour couldn’t have gotten away with any of those things. It’s shocking.”

Read more: Zac Efron reveals “‘Ferris Bueller’ changed my life”

Bundy used his charm to lure women to their deaths and used his clean cut image to evade capture. Become a TV sensation in America after he was arrested and his trial became the first criminal trial to be televised, leading to the killer gaining a whole host of, mostly female, admirers.

(Original Caption) Orlando, Fla.: Theodore Bundy watches intently during the third day of jury selection at his trial in Orlando for the murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach.
(Original Caption) Orlando, Fla.: Theodore Bundy watches intently during the third day of jury selection at his trial in Orlando for the murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach.

Efron added: “We have to be careful who we put on TV, because the day somebody made that trial public Ted Bundy was able to manipulate the masses with his charisma and his charm and his clean-cut white image. We can’t repeat history like that.”


Bundy has been in the limelight again in the past year, thanks to Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile, and the Netflix documentary Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, which began streaming in January 2019.

Read more: Zac Efron eager for Ted Bundy role not to make him look desperate

There has been concern giving Bundy such a profile could be seen to glorify his horrific acts.

Speaking to Variety after he was cast, Efron said: “Initially, I had reservations about playing a serial killer. I’ve seen people make horror films like this before, and it seems like an aggressive play to separate yourself from a perceived image.”