Zac
and Corbin!
The Last Game
by Lynn Barker
 Those
gorgeous and talented HSM hunks are back in High School Musical 3:
Senior Year and they still rule their school. The Wildcat boys have
some serious life-altering challenges to meet this time around; a basketball
or theater decision for Troy and basketball without his BFF for Chad.
Zac Efron and Corbin Bleu have both enjoyed a meteoric rise on the fame-o-meter
in the last few years but, from what we could tell during our latest interview
with the duo, they are both still normal guys who are in control of their
careers and goals in life.
Picture Zac
in his usual tennies, jeans and white tee topped with a dapper gray jacket
and Corbin in jeans and black shirt and sporting a little "beard
action" for a change. Let's get to the Q and A!
AGW:
I spoke with you guys back in 2005 when HSM one was going to be on TV
and Corbin, you were in the TV show "Flight 29 Down" and it's
cool to see what an amazing career boost you've had. If this is indeed
the last time we'll see you as Troy and Chad, how will you transition
into more adult roles?
Corbin: It's
all about range. We as artists, we're never satisfied. So you've got to
always continue to stretch yourself. I'm focusing on getting some more
in-depth roles. It would be nice to truly challenge myself, stretch a
little bit more. Also I'm interested in expanding into other art forms
as well. I'm working on music, I'm into the studio working on my second
album. And I'm also producing. I produced a film with my father called
“Free Style” which is about moto-cross and will be out in
January in theatres.
Zac: Before
“High School Musical 3” I filmed a movie called “17
Again”, playing a 37-year-old guy in a 17-year-old's body. That
was interesting. And then right after that filmed a movie called “Me
And Orson Welles”, more of a drama, set in 1937, about the Mercury
theatre troupe putting on a production of Julius Caesar. So two different
roles.
AGW: Zac,
how hard was it for you to realize this HSM ride was going to be over
and what will you miss most?
Zac: When
we were filming High School Musical 3, we took every opportunity
to revel in the scenes and dances because we knew this would be the last
time we were all together in this capacity, so we were soaking it up.
And miss? I don't know if you can put it all into one specific memory.
I think it's just the environment. It's been a very safe, creative place
for us to work in the last three years. And it's going to be pretty hard
to  leave
that behind.
AGW: Are you
still going to star in the re-make of Footloose?
Zac: “Footloose”
is coming together, actually. We're trying to figure out the right way
to do it, but yeah, it seems like it could happen.
AGW:
Troy and Chad are trying to decide what they want to do with their adult
lives. Did you know you wanted to act since young childhood?
Zac: had no
idea I wanted to be an actor. I went through high school just like all
the other guys. I didn't really have any plans for my future. This was
kind of my extra-curricular and my hobby but various doors opened and
I went through them and I ended up where I am today.
Corbin: You
know, it changes. When you're a kid, you have grand ideas to become a
lot of different things. I wanted to be a marine biologist. I wanted to
be a plastic surgeon. Eventually, it came down to two directions and it
was pediatrician or an actor. Now I can at least play a doctor on TV.
[we laugh] I grew up in it, and always knew wanted the arts to be my life.
It was just whether it would be a full on career or not, and when time
came that I had to make the decision, and I actually decided just to go
with what I love doing.
AGW:
You two have a really fun musical number as a duo in this film. Did you
get to have more of a "say" or input into what your characters
would do in this film?
Corbin: I
think Kenny (Ortega, the director) from the first film was always very
open to ideas from the whole cast and was always accepting our input.
I know that everybody had a hand in their characters since the first film.
What was great about this third one was that I felt like since we had
a longer rehearsal process... we had five weeks, we had more to workshop,
to really sit down with everybody, discuss characters and relationships
with each character, so I think you just saw the background with all these
different personalities throughout the whole movie.
 Zac:
I don't know if I had more say. I think it was more we had two movies
as background, so our characters were pretty established. We didn't have
to do as much character building as much as just finishing essentially.
And we had the ability to actually reminisce which is what you're actually
seeing in (the song) "The Boys Are Back". We've never been able
to do that before.
AGW:
What was the last scene you shot for the film and what was going through
your heads? It must have been emotional.
Corbin: The
final scene in the movie was actually the final scene we shot, which IS
very rare. You constantly shoot out of order. The final scene of the film
being the curtain closing on these characters, on their lives at high
school, was art mimics life. We were all up on stage, and reminiscing
about these past three years. (We were on) the same stage where we shot
"Breaking Free". This was the same stage where we experienced
so many creative breakthroughs with each other and friendships. I mean
it was a very emotional time. I remember we all went back to the trailers.
AGW:
Were you actually crying?
Zac: Yes.
Corbin was crying (Corbin shoots him a "look"). We were standing
on the stage watching the curtain close, and this was where everything
began for us. Like Corbin said, this is where we did "Breaking Free"
and "Bop To The Top", so many musical numbers. That's where
it all started and it was symbolic of our journey. We'd come a long way
as Wildcats but even more as individuals.
Corbin: And
to maintain our manhood, we didn't cry in front of everybody on the stage.
We waited until we got back to the makeup trailer and let loose. Just
the six of us that were there, and of course we just broke down. Girls'
makeup was running.
Zac: Okay,
Corbin waited until he got there (to the trailer).
AGW:
Besides the shooting the movie, what is your favorite memory of being
in Salt Lake City?
Corbin: The
Laker/Jazz game. That was fun. Getting to go of course we’re Lakers
fans. The Jazz fans were wonderful to make us feel so welcome.
Efron: (excited)
We got court side seats!
Bleu: We did
get court side seats. I remember I sported the Lakers jersey in the Jazz
arena. They invited us on the stage and I got booed.
AGW:
Yikes, that must have been new for you.
Zac: We walked
on the court and he was wearing was it a Kobe jersey?
Corbin: It
was a Kobe jersey.
 Zac:
The Utah arena is known for being the loudest in the states. Corbin held
up his hand and it was kind of awesome, but he got booed off the court.
Corbin: What
was great is that I actually got a chance to work with Magic Johnson and
I also saw Sasha. They remembered it and they were like, ‘Man thank
you so much for sporting the jersey.’ I was representing Laker pride!
AGW:
Zac and Corbin are you registered to vote and are you endorsing a candidate?
Zac: I am
registered to vote and I’m going to encourage voting, but I’m
not going to encourage anyone to vote for a particular candidate.
Corbin: I
am registered to vote and I’m a Barack Obama supporter.
AGW:
Zac, we heard that you had a scary fan encounter recently. True?
Zac: There
was no scary fan encounter. I didn’t get touched. I don’t
know exactly what happened. I kind of walked and got into a car. I had
all my relatives calling me, ‘What happened, what happened?’
It was blown out of proportion. I don’t recall.
AGW:
But, in general how do you deal with the stardom?
Zac: I’m
having a good time.
AGW: What’s
the biggest thing you two have taken away from this total HSM
experience?
Corbin: Wow
that is one of the most difficult questions just because it’s so
broad. This has been three years of our life. If you were to ask anybody
to chose one specific moment (in the last three years) especially with
everything we’ve been through (it would be hard). We’ve traveled
the world and have experienced all different types of cultures, we’ve
met millions of people. It’s impossible to lump it into one specific
moment. I don’t know if I can chose a specific moment from this,
but I think at the end of my life I will be able to say that one of the
best times of my life was when I was involved with “High School
Musical.”
Zac: (who
has been nodding affirmatively throughout Corbin's answer) Yeah, great
friends and good movies. I’m very proud of everything we’ve
accomplished.
AGW:
Zac did you get to keep any prop, costume or anything from the films?
Zac: I actually
asked to keep one of Troy’s suits from the movie. Everyone is all,
‘No, no we’re really sorry we might have re-shoots so we have
to keep it.’ I was like, ‘Alright, alright, that’s cool.’
We walked into the El Capitan theatre and my suit was on a mannequin like
'please come touch the suit'. It’s still sitting in there I’m
sure.
All uncredited
pictures courtesy of and copyright Walt Disney Pictures, 2008 |
