Zac Efron shares memories of filming the basketball scene in “High School Musical” 18 years later

18 years later High School Musical Zac Efron shares behind-the-scenes memories of filming the Disney Channel Original Movie. Efron's role as star basketball player and aspiring singer Troy Bolton paved the way for his continued successful career, appearing in projects ranging from the R-rated comedy Neighbors to the drama The Iron Claw. High School Musical became a full-fledged franchise with several sequels and a Disney+ spinoff series titled High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

In a Vanity Fair Video, Efron rewatches a scene from the original High School Musical for the first time in years. The scene features the song “Get'cha Head in the Game” as Troy and his Wildcat teammates simultaneously sing and practice basketball. Efron talks about his fond memories of filming this scene and the movie as a whole. Check out his comments and video below:

The first thing that comes to mind is, I really practiced all of those shots. There's no CGI in there. I don't think we had the budget for it. That makes me feel good. It just takes me back to the time when we all were. All the young men on that team, we were so young and so incredibly driven. Not many people know this, but High School Musical was a TV movie and it was very small. So we had a very tight shooting schedule and very limited rehearsal time. Our choreographer Chucky is actually in that shot, and Kenny Ortega had pretty big ambitions for this movie. But I think he was pleasantly surprised when all the guys were excited to not only fulfill what he wanted, but to go the extra mile.

That whole sequence with the basketballs and the dribbling in that movie, we practiced with basketballs, and I think we practiced for maybe two days before we got it all in sync. We probably had two three-hour rehearsals with basketballs. After five takes, we had it down. We did it all in one. They didn't edit from start to finish, and we were all blown away. I think that was the first time we all thought, “Is this going to be cool?” That was a really cool feeling. It was a really special moment, and I'm still proud of all the guys who did that. It was tough. You can't predict where a basketball is going to go. A lot of people got hit in the face.

I see I look so light on my feet in this. Oh my god. Oh wow. I love you, Kenny. I miss you guys, man, this brings it all back. I haven't seen this in years. This is crazy.

High School Musical was a precursor to Zac Efron’s enormous range

He is now well versed in musicals, comedies, voice acting and dramas

While High School Musical is often dismissed as a cheesy Disney Channel Original Movie, but proved himself to be an impressively versatile actor early on in Efron's career. He effectively balanced the athleticism, charisma and leading man energy required for the role of Troy, which is partially evident in the clip Efron rewatches. His musical talent made him a natural fit in several movie musicals later in his career, including Hairspray And The greatest showman.

However, Efron proved that he was not just a film musical star, as his comedic skills gained popularity with his roles in Neighbors and its sequels, Dirty GrandpaAnd Baywatch. His comedic and vocal talents led to a voice-over role in Robot Chicken, The Lorax and Scoob! A sinister role as serial killer Ted Bundy in Netflix's Extremely evil, shockingly evil and disgusting and the emotional intensity and depth he brought as Kevin Von Erich in The Iron Claw further demonstrated his range.

Given the variety of roles he has played and the talents he has displayed, Efron has undoubtedly accomplished a lot in his career so far, which makes it all the more exciting to see what his next projects will be. The majority of his work has been in the film field, which could make it exciting to see him in a television series. It could be a musical, comedy, drama or animated series, as he has plenty of experience in all of these areas, with a foundation he has built in High School Musical.

Source: Vanity Fair