Dylan Efron had passed on casting offers for reality shows before, but when The Traitors came calling, something shifted for him. “I had been offered to cast for a few shows, and I’d always turned them down. I think I just wasn’t quite ready at that time, and I felt like this year was the year that I was ready,” the adventure seeker, 33, exclusively tells Men’s Journal. “In a weird way, I don’t know why, but it just felt like the right time. Through everything I do on social media and putting myself out there more and more, I think I was finally ready to do something like this.”
Efron went on to win Season 3 of the Emmy-winning competition show, earning fans and admiration for his level-headed gameplay and grounded personality. Despite the attention, life hasn’t changed all that much for the down-to-earth multi-hyphenate. “I’ve definitely [been] getting noticed a little bit more than I used to. I used to get away with doing that a little bit more than I can now,” he laughs. “There’s a little bit more of a microscope, but nothing’s really changed, to be honest. I live a pretty humble life in a place where I love, and I think it hasn’t been too big of a change, so I’m enjoying the little changes.”
What was a shift, though, was giving up control of how he’d be seen. “I love creating my own content on Instagram or YouTube, but I’m always the person that can make the final cuts,” he says. “So putting myself out there in a way that the story can go any direction… I could be a villain. It is scary. That was the biggest change.”
Euan Cherry/Peacock
Efron remained himself throughout filming though, which endeared him to both the audience and his fellow cast members, telling MJ, “I just tried my hardest to be who I am, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out, obviously.”
That sense of focus carried over behind the scenes. Even on set, he made time to keep his routine intact.“They would give us small windows where we could work out—about 30 minutes—and you had to ask specifically for it,” he says. “I remember one of the times I just ran for 30 minutes because I needed to get as much energy out as I possibly could.”
A good week at home includes three or four strength-training sessions, a run, a swim, and something more playful like surfing, beach volleyball, basketball or tennis. “That was always my thing. I was never the best at anything, but I was pretty good at most things,” he says. “I’m a quick learner.”
That extends to food, too. “I’m not strict with it, but the thing is I have pretty broad rules that I follow really pretty closely,” he says. “I do high protein, low carb and low sugar, and those are kind of my main broad rules.” As for go-to snacks, he says, “One of my favorite snacks right now is cottage cheese and those little mini bell peppers. Such a good pairing, and I could eat that all day.”
Despite an Instagram full of wild outdoor stunts, Efron wasn’t always this fearless. “I was afraid of heights as a kid,” he admits. “I have a vivid memory from when I was 6 of my dad putting me on something that I was six feet off the ground and I’m bawling my eyes out… I was very afraid of heights and then started to conquer that fear, and that’s kind of been my journey. It’s just like, how can I keep improving and all the things I was afraid of…let’s tackle those and let’s get good at those. And that’s kind of what drives me in life.”
That curiosity has led him around the world—from tightrope walking to free diving with sharks. “I got into free diving, so I really like diving with sharks and I want to keep doing that all around the world,” he says. “Swimming with white tips would be really cool.”
Still, one of the most meaningful shifts has happened more internally since turning 30. “I think in my 30s I kind of found my brand, which is endorsing being outside and learning new things and happiest outside and just sharing that natural curiosity that I have with the world,” he says. “I just started to embrace who I am and be confident in that.”
He’s no longer worried about job titles, categories or fitting into a box. “I grew up in that era where you’re very much defined by your job. And that’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life… I’ve done so many different jobs. Yet when I’m on social media, it’s like, what is my brand? Am I a producer? Am I a director? Am I a talent?”
He pauses, then shrugs off the need to decide: “I can’t summarize it because I like to do so many things… and it is all these experiences that have made me who I am.”
