Zac Efron you knew High School Musical It was going to be big, it just took until the filming of a specific scene for him to bet on it.
In a new interview with Vanity FairThe 36-year-old actor has been tasked with watching clips from his projects over the years, including a pivotal scene from the 2006 film that put him on the map. While he always had a good feeling about the movie, according to the actor, it wasn’t until they filmed “Get’cha Head in the Game” that he knew it was something truly special.
“Few people know this, but High School Musical It was just a made-for-TV movie and it was very small, so we had a very condensed shooting schedule and very limited rehearsal time,” Efron says.
Despite having to move fast, the Family matter The star says the cast and crew — including director Kenny Ortega and choreographer Chucky Klapow — were “incredibly motivated” to make it perfect.
The scene features Efron’s character, Troy Bolton, doing a trick on the basketball court as he contemplates whether to continue with his sport or join the school musical. It also required a bit of juggling (literally and figuratively), as basketballs play a key role in the choreography.
“I think we might have practiced for two days before we got it all in sync,” Efron says of putting together the musical number. “We had maybe two three-hour rehearsals with basketballs. After five takes, we nailed it.”
Efron — who also starred in both High School Musical sequels — continues, “They didn’t cut it from beginning to end and we were all amazed. And I think that was the first time we all thought, ‘Is this going to be cool?'”
The admission of the Ricky Stanicky star comes after Efron recently revealed that another iconic scene from the franchise was improvised. Earlier this week, he shared that the memeified “Bet on It” dance number from High School Musical 2 was made on time.
“It was all improvised,” he shared. “And we recorded, I think the whole song, in about three hours.”
Efron isn’t downplaying the films’ impact. While the original 2006 film and its 2007 sequel premiered on the Disney Channel to mass audiences, High School Musical 3: Senior Year opened in theaters grossing $252.9 million at the worldwide box office.
The films also starred Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Blue Corbin, Lucas Grabeel It is Monique Coleman as students at East High School, where you couldn’t mess with cliques — something Efron’s character dared to do.
While Efron was promoting The Iron Claw in December, Efron was asked about the headlines surrounding the on-set shenanigans. While they were filming, Efron’s co-star Stanley Simons apparently broke in High School Musical songs on set — and Efron couldn’t help but hum along.
When asked about the song, Efron’s co-star Harris Dickinson began humming “Breaking Free,” the duet sung by Efron and Hudgens’ characters, and Efron immediately joined in.
“And a lot of people think they’re going to catch me when they do that and I’m always so prepared,” Efron said of people trying to test his knowledge of the lyrics. “But it was so cute, he has a great voice. I felt really special.”
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