Zac Efron has seamlessly made the transition to more adult roles, in a way that most younger actors only dream of. Following his work in the three High School Musical films, he has gone on to do both comedy and drama, with films like Hairspray, 17 Again and Me and Orson Welles. Now, he is playing his most vulnerable and emotional role yet, in Charlie St. Cloud.

Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name, Charlie St. Cloud tells the story of a small-town hero who survives a tragic accident, only to find out that his life has been changed forever. When Charlie (Efron) realizes that he can still see his younger brother Sam (Charlie Tahan), even though he’s dead, he vows to keep his promise to him and meet him every afternoon for baseball practice. And then, when his high school classmate Tess (Amanda Crew) returns home and sparks his interest, he becomes increasingly torn between his promise to his brother and his feelings for someone who is still very much alive.

During an interview to promote the film, Zac Efron talked about defining this character, working with director Burr Steers and striving for diversity in his film career. He also discussed his production company, Ninjas Runnin’ Wild, and the possible film slate that he’s hoping for. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

Since you were the one who actually got Burr Steers the directing job, why did you decide that you wanted to work with him again?
Zac: I didn’t so much get Burr the job. Burr called me and said, “Are you serious about this ‘cause I’m in,” and I was like, “All right, let’s do it.” He really responded to it, and that was exciting to me. I was stoked. I knew this was so much more in Burr’s wheelhouse than 17Again, and I just knew we’d be lucky to have him involved.

There are lots of movies about man-children, but Burr always makes movies about boys who have the weight of the world on their shoulders. What was he like to work with, and how does he get that mature performance out of you?
Zac: He’s very generous with the actors. It’s funny because Burr is rare to give a camera note or anything like that, but guaranteed, every take, he’d running over to us and have so much to say, or an opinion, or a new point of view, or something to think about. I enjoy that much attention from your director. I think it’s great when they’re not worried about the other stuff and they really care about your performance. He’s so performance-oriented, really deep down.

How did you define the way this character interacts throughout most of the movie, since the two most important relationships are, essentially, imaginary?
Zac: When Sam comes back, that’s when Charlie really is living. That’s what he looks forward to, and that’s when he has the most fun. If you have a ghost of somebody coming back and you make it sad, that would just be, “Oh, man.” Instead, we have the most fun in those scenes.

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