Zac Efron cried his way out of a traffic ticket

Actor Zac Efron turned on the waterworks when he was pulled over by the police.

The Bad Grandpa star made the admission during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Thursday evening (19May16), confessing he put his acting skills to good use.

"I got pulled over and immediately thought I was going to get a ticket because I didn't have my driver's license or something like that," he said. "The lady cop who pulled me over was really sweet, but I got kind of over emotional and I kind of turned the tears on a little bit and she recognised me."

When Seth asked what happened once the police officer realised who she was talking to, Zac added: "She literally goes, 'It's OK, you don't need to get emotional, I just wanted to let you know that your registration's expired as of yesterday. I'm not going to give you a ticket.'"

While Zac was relieved, the cop wasn't finished with him just yet as she then asked for a piece of memorabilia.

"She was like, 'Do you have a head shot in your trunk?'" he continued. "And I was like, 'I do...! Sweet', it was awesome."

The 28-year-old admitted he can switch on the waterworks pretty easily, as it's a skill he picked up at an early age.

"I think I've always been able to turn on tears when necessary," he said. "Enough hard directors and you learn how to cry."

Zac taps into his emotions for his latest movie, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, the sequel to the 2014 original which also stars Seth Rogen.

The High School Musical hunk reprises his role as Teddy Sanders, a former fraternity leader who is floundering as an adult as all of his friends move on with their lives.

But as well as his tears, Zac also gets to raise some laughs, particularly in one scene, in which he is oiled up by his co-stars using a shoulder of pork.

"It was cooked to the right temperature, and was delicious," he recalled. "It was spiced and rubbed and then they used a turkey baster to fill it with lube, which smelled like lemon, and it was so gross!"