Zac Efron Recalls When He Knew 'High School Musical' Would Be a Big Deal
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Zac Efron, who played Troy Bolton in 'High School Musical' and its two sequels, says he knew the movie would be big.
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Entertainment Tonight
Zac Efron knew High School Musical was going to be big, it just took him until the filming of one specific scene to bet on it.

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the 36-year-old actor was tasked with watching clips from his projects over the years, including one 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 really special.

"Not many people know this, but High School Musical 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 shares.

Despite having to move fast, the Family Affair star says that 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, busting out a move on the basketball court as he contemplates sticking with his sport or taking part in the school musical. It also required a hefty bit of juggling (literally and figuratively) as basketballs play a key part to the choreography.

"I think we might've practiced it for two days prior to doing that all in sync," Efron says of putting the musical number together. "We maybe had two three-hour rehearsals with basketballs. After five takes, we nailed it."

Efron -- who also starred in the two High School Musical sequels -- continues, "They didn't cut from start to finish and all of us were blown away. And I think that was the first time all of us went, 'Is this gonna be cool?'"

The admission from 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 up on the spot.

"That was all improv," he shared. "And we shot it, I think the whole song, in like three hours."

Efron is not downplaying the impact of the films. While the original 2006 film and its 2007 follow-up both premiered on Disney Channel to mass audiences, High School Musical 3: Senior Year debuted in theaters to $252.9 million at the worldwide box office.

The films also starred Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel and Monique Coleman as students at East High School where the cliques were not to be messed with -- something that Efron's character dared to do.

While Efron was promoting The Iron Claw back in December, Efron was asked about headlines surrounding the on-set shenanigans. While they were filming, Efron's co-star, Stanley Simons, would apparently break into 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, started humming "Breaking Free," the duet sung by Efron and Hudgens' characters, and Efron immediately joined along.

"And a lot of people think that they're gonna get me when they do it and I'm always so prepared," Efron said about people trying to test his knowledge of the lyrics. "But it was so sweet, he has a great voice. I felt very special."