ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS

'High School Musical' stars enjoy instant fame

By Chris Ball
Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Tween alert! The surprise hit movie "High School Musical" arrives on DVD today.

Carefully marketed to the 10-to-14 set, the sugary, song-filled sensation has set records since its Jan. 20 premiere on the Disney Channel. The soundtrack has topped 2 million in sales, and it had nine singles on the Billboard charts one week. Combining youthful innocence, a nonconformist message and "American Idol" flavored pop singing, the film is riding a wave of teenybopper adulation. The DVD (G, 98 minutes, Buena Vista) adds two featurettes and two music videos. We caught up recently by phone with the two leads, Zac Efron, 18, and Vanessa Anne Hudgens, 17, to get their take on the phenomenon. Your careers have taken off like a rocket with the success of "High School Musical."

What's it like to be instantly famous?
Zac: It's great to be quote-unquote famous. At this point, we're all still working toward that.
Vanessa: Yeah, we're still looking for our next movie to book.
Zac: It's all fantastic, as long as it can somehow lead to ...
Vanessa: ... bigger and better things.
Zac: We're enjoying it.

When did you know it was a hit?
Vanessa: One thing led to another. I went onto iTunes to buy music,and there we were. It's just a trip to know that we're up there with all these big people who I've been listening to going up. We're traveling nowand going all over the world and doing tons of press for this movie, and we had no idea that was going to be the thing.
Zac: It's just a culmination of lots of different, crazy events. I'm slowly still now just starting to realize how big everything has gotten. To be honest, I think it's been blown out of proportion a tiny bit. It'sjust a small movie. But what can I say? I'm extremely thankful andsurprised and pleased.

Can you go to the mall without being mobbed?
Zac: I need to go to a mall. I haven't been yet. I'm not much for shopping, so I need to go to a mall and see what all this mall buzz is about.
Vanessa: I'll take you.
Zac: I'm still fine. We can walk around wherever.
Vanessa: I actually look different than I do in the movie, so not everybody recognizes me. It's only when I'm with Zac or Ashley [Tisdale] or somebody from the movie that I really do get recognized.

Do you have to wear disguises now when you go out?
Vanessa: No, we're fine without it. Just as long as it's not Friday night at the movies. Then we do go incognito.
Zac: Yeah, we're still relatively anonymous.

What is the best perk that comes from your new fame?
Vanessa: Free stuff. Clothes. An iPod. I got a new TV from Disney,which was very generous. They gave the cast each a 32-inch flat-screen TV.Zac: The best perk I think is that going to the audition room, the casting director is at least somewhat familiar with your work, and that is always a big plus.

What can you tell us about the sequel?
Vanessa: It's being written right now. We don't know much. It's going to take place over the summer. But I think it's been said Sharpay will take an interest in Troy to get Troy away from me for the play that's going on over the summer. Something like that.
Zac: It's going to be like "Dirty Dancing."
Vanessa: No, it won't.
Zac: Yeah, if this was "Grease," I think it'll be sort of the "Dirty Dancing" style.
Vanessa: Well, how will it be "Dirty Dancing"? We like each other.
Zac: Whatever. We're usually the last to find out. You'd be better offgoing online and checking it out.

In the future, do you want to focus on your singing or acting?
Vanessa: I think acting is my first priority, but I have the opportunity now to work on my own solo album, so I'm going to pursue that.I think acting always will be my No. 1.
Zac: And I'm going to work primarily on the acting, to try to make a foundation for myself for the future. If I did music, I don't want people to get confused at all at this point. I'm definitely just an actor.

Are you worried about being typecast into romantic musical roles?
Zac: A little bit.
Vanessa: Kind of. I want to be able to do a wide range of roles. I want to do the Disney movies, I want to do romance, I want to do comedy. So I'mhoping I won't get typecast and have to stay in the same genre. But hopefully our acting skills will take us out of that.
Zac: We're actors. That's what we do. The DVD doesn't have a gag reel, so can you tell us the funniest thing that happened during filming?
Vanessa: We were shooting a reaction shot on Zac, I think he was alittle tired, because he wasn't very smiley. He was supposed to laugh, and maybe he was out of it, because he wasn't doing it, so me and the [assistant director] decided we would trade places, and it's this big African-American guy, so the next time he looked back, it was this big guy when he was expecting me, so that got a big laugh. There was another time when he had just been miked and he had to put his shirt on, and they yelled action ...
Zac: Oh yeah! I had to run in the gym, and I guess I had to put my shirt on during the scene, like I just got dressed, and it took me at least three tries to get it because my mike kept falling out of my shirt.

Vanessa, in the scene in the gym where you shoot a basket, how many takes did you need to make the shot?
Vanessa: Six out of seven, I made.
Zac: Yeah, that's better than most professional basketball players.

High school can be a confusing time. What can you tell kids who don'twant to be pigeonholed as a jock or a geek or another stereotype?
Zac: It's important to make sure you go out and try new things as often as you can. You've got to do what feels right for yourself and don't let your friends decide for you. You have to realize your real friends will stick by you whatever decisions you make.
Vanessa: If you do that, you'll find out who your real friends are.

Zac, my son wants to know if you really are great at basketball.
Zac: No, tell him I'm not. He could probably beat me one on one. I'm practicing hard, though, and I'm getting better. Watch out, Kobe.Do you like other sports?

Zac: I like to run and play hacky-sack and Frisbee. I don't really have a single sport.

Did you get to jump out of a plane on your 18th birthday?
Zac: No, I promised myself I would do it while I'm 18, so I have a few more months to do it. I can't wait. I'm going to do it soon. I'll do it this summer for sure.

Vanessa, have you seen Zac's Web site?
Vanessa: Yes, I have. I think it's cute. It's fun seeing girls go crazy over this guy I'm hanging out with.

Have either of you ever been to Ohio?
Vanessa: No.
Zac: Can't wait to go, though. I'm making a road trip.

What's your favorite TV show?
Vanessa: "Family Guy." "South Park." "Degrassi" "It's a Notion."
Zac: I love MXC, "Most Extreme Elimination."

Who is your favorite singer out.
Vanessa: I've always looked up to Celine Dion. When I was young, Iused to sing all her songs. She's my motivation.
Zac: I like this new guy named Matt Costa. I stumbled on his album. I think he's really great.

What actor or singer would you most like to perform with?
Zac: I would want to perform onstage with Tenacious D.

Vanessa: I would like to work alongside Tim Burton.
Zac: I would want to work with Christian Bale in "Batman 2."

How have your lives changed?
Vanessa: It hasn't. We're the same people. We're normal people. Exceptwe recently have been getting busier, and it's tiring, I must say, traveling all over the place, but we're still the same people.
Zac: The traveling is great. We love doing all this press. Actually, I think the most important thing is other opportunities to work, and working is really why we're doing all of this. I mean, hanging out on set andputting a great show and creating it is really where our journey begins,so it just opens other opportunities to go and keep doing that.

From The Plain Dealer