Zac Efron says his new movie 'The Paperboy' stretched him as an actor.

The 24-year-old star - who is most famous for his role in the 'High School Musical' franchise - stars alongside Nicole Kidman and Matthew McConaughey in the sexy drama and he admits it was good to show a different side to him.

He said; ''As much as I love everything I've done, this is a new frontier for me. It's incredibly fulfilling. It's a dream. Hopefully, I can keep doing things like this.''

In the movie, Zac spends a lot of time in his underwear and while he admits it wasn't that comfortable shooting the scenes, he's glad he did it.

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, he said: ''I don't think I was supposed to feel comfortable. It's like life. This character is supposed to be learning the ways of the world, and that can be very uncomfortable. But it's also exciting.''

Co-star Nicole admitted she enjoyed stripping off in the movie because it challenged her.

She said: ''I think I had to step into a place to play the character where I didn't step out of it and look at myself, so it wasn't hard to shoot. I'd been looking as an actor for something raw and something dangerous.''