If you grew up in the 2000s like I did, then you know there will never be a movie franchise quite like High School Musical. Disney tried more than once to recreate the magic the trilogy held, but nothing could ever match the chemistry this cast shared. This classic Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) now evokes pure childhood nostalgia for fans, and it turns out Zac Efron’s HSM co-star remembers it, and the number "Get’cha Head in the Game" specifically, just as fondly as we do.
For anyone wondering what it was like to grow up on a fake high school movie set, it was fairly similar to the real deal. In fact, Chris Warren, who played Zeke, the lovable basketball player turned chef, told People he considers HSM his “high school experience.” He also revealed that he and the Family Affair actor bonded early on over their athletic abilities and lack of dance skills when it came to filming the standout number “Get’cha Head in the Game.” However, knowing the game better than the moves proved to be helpful, as the actor explained:
Me and Zac [Efron] were the only ones that actually played basketball … So for once I was on the other side of things where I was like, ‘Okay, let me teach you guys how to dribble’, because they know how to dance, but I know how to dribble. All these dancers were huddled around me and Zac trying to ask us advice. ‘Do we dribble like this? Do we do it like that?’ So that was kind of funny.
It is quite funny that most of the actors struggled with dribbling the most given that it’s probably the least complex part of the entire number.
On that note, the Baywatch actor has previously said he remembers being shocked they managed to get a usable take of that sequence specifically, given the difficulty of combining the choreography with basketball skills. However, I’m sure it would have taken much longer without these two actors helping their teammates behind the scenes.
At least Zac Efron could shoot a basketball. He certainly wasn’t cast for his dancing or singing abilities, given it’s actually Drew Seeley’s voice singing hits like “Breaking Free” in the first movie.
However, it’s evident that Efron’s strength as a leading man was well worth the initial lack of theater skills. His stellar performance as the secretly sensitive high school heartthrob Troy Bolton is one of the strongest takeaways of the DCOM series. He obviously went on to do bigger things than HSM, but at the time, the absence of “Hollywood polish” was part of the reason he appealed to the casting producers.
While the Greatest Showman actor picked up the singing and dancing quickly, it definitely made him a bit of an outsider at first. So I imagine Efron felt similarly to Warren, who says it was nice to have a buddy on set with a similar industry background and shared hobbies:
We both played sports outside of that. We both loved going to the gym and working out. He loved the [Los Angles] Lakers. I actually liked the [Boston] Celtics. We would kind of root against each other when they were in the finals at the time. Growing up together from the first one, we are freshmen, and then the second one and the third one … it was fun having someone that had similar interests as me on that set. … I'll always cherish those [memories] because it was such a fun three, four years of that time period of that whole craziness. It was really fun getting to bond with everybody.
The pair became close friends throughout the course of filming, and I’d be curious to find out if they are still in touch. Neither actor returned for the High School Musical 4: The Reunion in Disney+’s original show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, although leads Vanessa Hudgens and Efron have (separately) visited the now famous school in Utah in recent years. So, there is hope for a full reunion yet. The Iron Claw actor has previously expressed interest in reprising his role as Troy Bolton, and something tells me he and the Sistas actor would be happy to work together again.
For anyone wanting a healthy dose of 2000s nostalgia, you can sing along to Kenny Ortega’s greatest hits -- including "Get’cha Head in the Game" -- by streaming all three High School Musical movies with a Disney+ subscription.
