ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS

The Scoop on 'High School Musical'

Kid Reporter Emily Doveala interviewed stars Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale

By Emily Doveala
March 2, 2006

You've invited ten friends over for the premiere of High School Musical, the latest new movie from Disney Channel. Your mom's making popcorn as the rest of your friends count down to the start of the movie. Did you know thousands of other kids are doing exactly the same thing?

The premiere of this movie, about two high school students who pursue their love for singing and acting despite pressure from friends and family to 'Stick to the Status Quo,' as one song puts it, was a huge success.

Disney is planning to make a sequel since this movie is so popular.

TFK Kid Reporter Emily Doveala interviewed Zac Efron who plays Troy Bolton, at a New York City media event held for the movie.

TFK: How did you get involved with the Disney Channel?
Zac: It was a regular audition, like any other day, and I went in and had to sing and dance. It lasted about seven and a half hours, and before I knew it, I had booked a role in High School Musical. It was pretty cool.

TFK: How long did it take to make the movie?
Zac: It took a total of six weeks. We had two weeks of rehearsal and then we had four weeks of principal photography. So, all together six weeks to make the movie.

TFK: How many hours a day did you rehearse dancing or singing?
Zac: The first two weeks we would show up to rehearsal at 9:00 o'clock and I think we'd get off at about 5:00 o'clock. That was for the rehearsal for the dancing and basketball and acting and everything. And then during the rest of the shoot when we weren't on camera we were rehearsing.

TFK: What was your favorite part about filming this movie?
Zac: My favorite part of filming this movie was just the interaction with the cast, and making a whole bunch of new friends and singing and dancing while we were filming.

TFK: What was it like working with such a big cast?
Zac: It was a blast. The whole cast would hang out after every day of shooting. We'd go out and eat dinner and we just did fun stuff together and it made being on the set a lot more fun.

TFK: What did you expect from this movie?
Zac: I expected, when I started, that hopefully we could bring musicals back into the spotlight. And I grew up with a lot of musicals, it's all I watched. It's awesome to be able to bring a little bit of that back to Disney Channel which kids really watch these days.

TFK: What was your big break?
Zac: My big break? Probably getting into a show called Summerland on the WB-11 Channel. And then probably High School Musical after that.

TFK: What advice would you give to kids who want to have a career in acting?
Zac: My advice would be to go and sign up for the first play you can find, audition and see how you like it. If you enjoy being on stage, then I can almost guarantee that you are going to like being in front of the camera.

From Time For Kids