Zac Efron gives a great big smile as he arrives at the NBC Studios in New York City for his appearance on The Today Show on Thursday morning (March 1).

The 24-year-old actor is gearing up for the premiere of his new film, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, and revealed that Dr. Seuss‘ widow, Audrey, hand picked him for the role of Ted.

Zac added, ” My dad was a huge fan of Dr. Seuss … he’s got an original copy of ‘The Lorax’ from like 1971 or something like that, so he read it to me growing up. It was a big part of my life and my education.”

Zac is also pictured at the photo call for John John in Brazil on Wednesday afternoon (February 29).

15+ pics inside…