(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Zac Efron was amazed by how "unbelievable" alligator was when he tasted it.

The actor had to beef up for his role as a marine in The Lucky One. He ate an enormous amount to pack on muscle, but it wasn't all bad. Zac was amazed to find he could still indulge in some junk food, such as pizza.

"That was actually the best part as long as I was getting calories, I could kind of bend the rules, so in New Orleans, where we were shooting, we would go out for Creole," he explained. "We had alligator, too. They put a delicious sweet sauce over it it was unbelievable!"

Although he was happy to taste one of the water-based creatures, Zac isn't so keen on coming face-to-face with them. That happened when he was shooting one of his upcoming releases and the encounter gave him the jitters for a whole day.

"I actually saw an alligator when I was filming The Paperboy. I was supposed to jump in this lake, but after we saw three of them, I couldn't get back in for the rest of the day!" he laughed to Company magazine. (C) Cover Media