Zac Efron’s wax likeness has been unveiled at Madame Tussaud’s in Times Square this morning. Dressed in the High School Musical Wildcats basketball jersey, it apparently drew quite a crowd!

The waxy hunk was unveiled late last year at Madame Tussaud’s in London and I still think it’s kind of creepy looking. The wax figures seem to be hit or miss though, some are right on and others, like Zac’s, I think don’t quite make it.

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Zac Efron made one final appearance in the UK yesterday before heading home. In a sit-down interview with GMTV (Good Morning Television), a morning news show, Zac talks about how surprised he still gets by the legions of fans that show up to see him.

They chat about the movie for a bit and Zac mentions how closely he and co-star Matthew Perry (who plays the older character to Zac’s younger character) actually worked together and how Zac would call him up to get his advice now and then. They talk for a few minutes about Zac’s own high school experience and whether he’d want to go back to being 17 again himself.

The basketball that seems to follow Zac around from appearance to appearance is produced and he explains that High School Musical co-star Corbin Bleu taught him how to spin it on his finger, though he doesn’t perform the trick until the end of the clip. They talk about upcoming projects and Zac says this is the first time he hasn’t really had a game plan for future projects and that he’s going to take his time while looking forward to something new.

Zac Efron has been named the 2009 Breakthrough Star of the Year at ShoWest!

ShoWest managing director Mitch Neuhauser says that Zac was “an easy choice” this year what with his success of the High School Musical movies and his upcoming comedy 17 Again:

Neuhauser says, “When Zac Efron made his debut with the cast of Hairspray at ShoWest 2007, many in attendance took notice of this young actor’s incredible talent. His undeniable onscreen presence and charm have connected with fans around the world.”

ShoWest is an exclusive event for the cinema exhibition and distribution community. Zac will be honored at an awards gala on April 2 in Las Vegas.

Congrats, Zac!

[source][image: bauer-griffin]

Zac Efron and girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens are back in the US after a week-long vacation in Brazil!

The pair were mobbed at the airport in Brazil on their way out, slowed down by excited fans snapping pictures and getting autographs. I wonder how much extra time they have to tack on to their arrival time just for situations like that?

The much-needed vacation has come after a very long promotional tour for their mega-hit movie, High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

Zac’s upcoming movie releases include 17 Again with Matthew Perry, which will be released April 17, and Me and Orson Welles (which hasn’t been picked up by a distributor yet, keep your fingers crossed!). He’ll also begin work on the Footloose remake soon. Vanessa’s upcoming movie, Bandslam, is set to hit theaters in July.

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Zac Efron, Robert Pattinson and the Jonas Brothers top MTV’s recently released 2009 MPV list. It includes “everyone who’s going to make a splash in pop music and culture over the next 12 months.” Haven’t these guys already done that?

Anyway, for Zac they say:

“He may not be playing 17 in anymore High School Musical movies, but the 21-year-old will be playing the 17-year-old version of Matthew Perry’s character Mike O’Donnell in 17 Again. He also recently worked on Me and Orson Welles and is confirmed to tackle the Footloose remake. ‘It’s great,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t be more excited [to have Kevin Bacon's blessing]. He’s the man.’”

[image: newscom]

Zac Efron recently did an interview with The Daily Telegraph. In it he guardedly talks about his relationship with on- and off-screen girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens, though he refuses to talk about how long they’ve actually been together. He does admit that working with her in the High School Musical movies was just like working with his best friend.

He won’t talk about where he and Vanessa went on vacation last summer after the completion of three films, though we already know they went to Turks and Caicos.

He also admits that since he “became legal” in October he did pop open a beer with his dad but won’t say what brand it was. However, we do finally find out that Vanessa gave him a “very nice painting” for his birthday! I guess that’s something, right? I can understand wanting to keep as much of your private life private, but the reporter sure did a great job writing about all the stuff he didn’t want to talk about!

Thankfully, he finally seems to open up when the subject of his early acting career is mentioned. He talks about how his parents encouraged him and took him to his first audition in 1998 for Stephen Sondheim’s Gypsy for a local theater company (”Actually, my parents didn’t even tell me they were taking me to an audition. I thought we were going to Toys ‘R’ Us. I thought I was going to pick up a new video game.”)

It mentions a few of his earlier one-shot roles in ER, NCIS, CSI: Miami, and The Guardian (though, oddly nothing about his appearance on Firefly).

The bottom of the article has a fun “Fact File” that includes a few facts like “When HSM 2 was released in August 2007, Efron became the most searched for celebrity on the internet movie database IMDB,” and “‘Breaking Free’, his duet with Hudgens from HSM 1, had the fastest one-week climb in the history of the American Billboard charts, going from No 86 to No 4 in 2006.”

[image: newscom]

Zac did this video tour for KOL.com (AOL kids’ site) during what was supposedly his first trip to New York City a couple of years ago.

Zac talks about Central Park and gets schooled on ice skating by a little girl. He also answers a lot of fan questions about (the first) High School Musical, basketball, acting, dating, and there are a few goofy ones too.

Vanessa Hudgens was recently interviewed about her experience with the High School Musical movies, specifically the most recent, Senior Year.

Since she was homeschooled she didn’t get the average high school experiences that most of us do — prom, graduation — and has said she was grateful for the opportunity to participate in it some way anyway, and especially with people she loves and admires.

“This has been my high school experience. I got to make that close group of friends you have in high school. I got to graduate with them, to throw my cap in the air for the very first time. And I guess I got to have a fairytale prom.”

She’s also mentioned how emotional filming some of the final scenes were, and how the hair and makeup people were having a rough time because the actors couldn’t stop crying!

[image: newscom]

Zac was left speechless recently after a surprise phone call from Michael Jackson! Zac said that he was left feeling overwhelmed when he found out that Michael Jackson is also a fan of his.

Jackson said he’s a big fan of the High School Musical franchise, and he’s a close friend of the films director Kenny Ortega. So Zac, who is a fan of Michael’s, admitted that he was delighted when Ortega handed him his cell phone, and told him that Jackson wanted to talk to him:

“I’ve been wanting to talk to Michael Jackson my whole life, but as soon as Kenny handed me the phone, I was at a loss for words. I have never been so speechless!”

It’s an admiration-fest!

[image used with permission from newscom.com]

Zac, Vanessa, Ashley and Corbin attended the UK premiere of High School Musical 3 tonight at the Empire, Leicester Square in London!

Zac looked sharp in an all-black suit and gelled hair, and Vanessa looked flirty in a black mini dress and black leather jacket.

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