Zac Efron Reveals Advice Leonardo DiCaprio Gave Him As A Young Actor

It turns out Leonardo DiCaprio has a paternal side to him, or at least a willingness to help comfort a fellow actor. The “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” star once offered a bit of advice to a young Zac Efron.

“That’s the biggest hand you can extend I feel like in Hollywood is looking out for someone younger,” Efron told “Hot Ones” host Sean Evans in an episode released Thursday.

In 2008, coming off of the heels of his third “High School Musical” outing and “Hairspray” fame, Efron said he was “consistently” feeling “stress and anxiety” at the large numbers of paparazzi following him everywhere he went.

“...This was just a normal routine,” he said. “Like I’d leave my driveway and like 10 cars would follow me.”

So when given the chance, Efron decided to confide in veteran actor DiCaprio and inquire into coping strategies for dealing with his newfound fame. “And he was like, ‘Don’t worry about it man, you’re good,’” Efron remembered DiCaprio telling him.

At the time, DiCaprio confessed that Efron might have an even worse paparazzi problem than he did.

“I was like, ‘Dude, how have you handled this for so long?’” Efron asked. “And he was like, ‘Frankly, you’re getting it a little bit different.’”

Efron and DiCaprio met while being seated side-by-side at an NBA game in Los Angeles in 2008, Insider reported. Efron admitted he was too nervous to break the silence between him and the “Titanic” star, so he waited for him to take the lead.

“Actually what was really cool about that night, and this kind of sticks in my mind is that we weren’t talking at that point,” Efron said. “He had his hat down low and when the ball went to the other side he was like, ‘Hey man, do you want to go get breakfast tomorrow?’”

A young Efron was eager to accept and got treated to a meal at DiCaprio's home the next day. “He cooked waffles and then he burnt those and then he made pancakes,” Efron laughed. “It was awesome.”

Efron disclosed that DiCaprio’s words of advice did indeed help to ease the young actor’s mind. “I really appreciate that he took that time,” Efron said. “He made me feel good about it — helped me a little bit.”