Dylan Efron Didn’t Want to ‘Mess Up’ Brother Zac’s Career Growing Up

Dylan Efron is sharing what it was like to grow up with a sibling in the spotlight.

Appearing on the Sept. 4 episode of Jake Shane’s Therapuss podcast, the younger Efron brother opened up about how Zac Efron’s early time in the spotlight changed their childhood growing up.

Dylan, who recently starred on season 3 of The Traitors, spoke about the pressure that he put on himself to keep his image clean as his brother’s career took off.

While chatting about Dylan’s upcoming appearance on the latest season of Dancing with the Stars, Shane asked if he had experienced any anxiety about the dance competition show. While he wasn’t necessarily nervous about the competition itself, Dylan shared that he has always been cautious about how he behaves publicly.

“No. I just think it’s because my whole life, Zac’s been famous, and I never wanted to mess up his career and stuff like that,” Dylan explained. “So I think that’s something that I’ve been hyper aware of how I present myself and stuff like that from a young age.”

Dylan, 33, also recalls growing up with Zac, 37, around the time the first High School Musical movie came out.

“I was probably a freshman in high school when High School Musical came out,” he shared, noting he was around 12 and Zac was about 16 or 17 when the DCOM was released. “I remember watching it with a few of my friends, like, downstairs with my dad.”

Dylan went on to share that, at the time, he understandably had “no idea [about] anything in the movie industry.”

“I knew my brother was gonna be on a Disney show, so it was so exciting to me,” he said. “To me, [that] was already my Super Bowl.”

Continuing on, Dylan spoke about watching the success of the beloved Disney Channel franchise grow and grow. “The fact that it turned into something as big as it was, like, it was already that big to me,” he gushed.

“And then as far as my brother, I always looked up to him,” Dylan continued. “When I was 12, he was 16 with muscles and stuff, like working out. So I’m always like, ‘How do you work out?’ And, like, he was teaching me that stuff.”

“So I always looked up to him. So then, when everyone else started looking up to him, [it] was like, of course, my big brother. That’s kinda how it always felt. I was never surprised that he became what he is.”

Back in February, Dylan opened up to PEOPLE about his tendencies to be more introverted while growing up alongside Zac.

“I was really shy as a kid,” Dylan said at the time. “I didn’t have social media until I was probably 25, 26. I was very private. And then every year, growing more and more confident, posting more on social and realizing that my life being posted on social media has led to reality [shows] being an option because I’m playing myself online.”

He also spoke about his role on The Traitors, saying that as a fan of Survivor as a child, “it was always a dream” to be on a competition show like The Traitors.

“I was super competitive growing up,” he said. “So when Traitors asked, it was a no-brainer. I don’t think I would’ve been ready for this a couple years ago, but it was the perfect timing for me. I watched, I loved it and I thought I’d do pretty well.”

Now, Dylan will take this competitive desire to ABC, competing alongside his partner, dance pro Daniella Karagach, on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars.

Season 34 of the beloved dance competition will premiere Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and simulcast on Disney+. The show streams the next day on Hulu.