He's my hero
"High school Musical" lead Zac Efron -- the hottest teen star in the country right now -- has a warning for the paparazzi that's starting to follow him around.
save your time. He's, well, kind of boring in his personal life.
"I do pretty regular things, like going to the grocery store, maybe the mall," the 19-year-old actor says. "I go pick up my dry cleaning.
"There's not much there to photograph."
In fact, Efron says he shuns the temptations of celebrity. He doesn't drink (though he's underage anyway) and doesn't like to stay out until the wee hours to party.
Those attributes actually make him similar to Troy Bolton, the role he created for "High School Musical" and its sequel, coming out Friday on the Disney Channel. Still, it's a lot to aspire to.
"I don't think Troy is too perfect," Efron says. "I admire him for being a nice guy. That's rare in regular high school situations.
He's genuinely nice and cool and he cares."
"You don't see that a lot these days in kids his age."
During a time when many teens look to Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie or Lindsey Lohan -- all of whom have been in trouble this year for their wild ways -- Efron represents the nicer side of celebrity. He blushes when he's asked about the attention he gets from female fans.
He considers himself a bit of a homebody and even a nerd.
"If you consider being a nerd (as someone) playing video games, reading comic books and listening to show tunes, then, yes, I am a
nerd I guess," he says during an interview in which he confesses he's a bit tired of talking about himself.
He spends his free time with his father "doing guy stuff" like catching a Mets game, where he tries to collect autographs from players.
But these days, he has no time for any of this. He's busy crisscrossing the country to promote "High School Musical 2," one of the most anticipated television events of the year.
The first "Musical" was the most-watched movie in Disney Channel history. Almost no one predicted the impact of the first "Musical," an old-fashioned song-and-dance production about clean-cut kids staging a show at school.
The movie spun-off a hit soundtrack and made the cast, especially Efron, household names.
Efron was suddenly elevated him from being just another struggling actor to a bona-fide star. It led him to a co-starring role in another musical role -- the big-screen version of "Hairspray," opposite John Travolta.
That role has opened up other opportunities. He'll fill Kevin Bacon's shoes in an upcoming remake of the musical "Footloose."
Yet in all of this, Efron says the rush that sudden fame can bring hasn't taken him. In real life, he wants to make sure the nice guy doesn't finish last.
How does he do it?
"I have good parents," he says.
"I'm not going for rum and cokes at the Viper Room.
"No, you won't see me having drinks with Paris. That's just not who I am." -Source.