In the past, including here, I certainly criticized him. Looking back on it though, I think the thing that bugged me the most wasn't so much the man himself (I've never met him in person so I can't really judge him like that), but the product the media turned him into. He wasn't treated so much as an actor with skill, but more like a plastic toy that was deprived of personality and talent in order to be the most desirable thing to girls his age. Coupled with the lack of good movies and not being attracted to him for being too girly looking (again more the result of too much makeup, airbrushing and highlights on the part of marketing tools) and you can see why I think he didn't live up to the hype. Justin Bieber is the same thing now, except with even poorer talents and an even younger (looks like he's ten), more feminine appearance.
He was however good in
Hairspray, but at the time the movie was treated like another accessory to the HSM craze and it was the only thing I could think of that he was good in, so it didn’t help too much.
Now thankfully that craze is finally over and he’s trying to be more than just a one-dimensional poster-boy.
Me and Orson Wells was great and gave him something to do besides singing and dancing. Seeing him do a thriller type movie is also encouraging as is the sight of him getting better looking with age (and muscle mass). Hopefully he can develop into an actor that others can grow to like thanks to improving ability and worthwhile project choices.
Charlie St. Cloud and
New Years Eve, may not help though.
Edit: Another thing that bugged me regarding him in the past was the guessing game surrounding his orientation. It seemed to me to stem from the "pretty musical boy" image and came across as a lazy reinforcement of a stereotype and just made me dislike the way the Hollywood media/fans treated the "issue" that much more. I did however like Zac's reaction that was something along the lines of "if that's the worst thing they can make up about me, I'm fine with that".*
* I don't know if that's exactly how he said it, but I think it was something along those lines.