Sometimes, on-screen connections can happen in an instant.
That was the case with Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron while working together on High School Musical. From the early stages of the casting process, the two performers hit it off.
Vanessa says that for one reason or another, she and Zac just clicked. “The chemistry was so real,” according to Vanessa. The pair did three High School Musical films together. The movie’s popularity is credited in large part to the special connection that Vanessa and Zac had for each other.
Vanessa Hudgens thought Zac Efron was “so cute”
Previously featuring as one of the Sexiest Men Alive, Zac Efron gets a lot of attention from the ladies. His good looks caught the eye of his soon-to-be High School Musical co-star. “Oh, my God, he’s so cute,” said Vanessa on her Get Your Head in the Game podcast on reading with Zac in the audition process.
There was a good reason why their characters, Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez, always seemed to be a good match. Vanessa and Zac dated from 2005 to 2010. She credits their offscreen romance as a big reason their chemistry was always there when the cameras were rolling. “It really does [help],” Vanessa noted. “Especially when you’re young and it’s all sweet and innocent.”
After their breakup, Vanessa began dating baseball player Austin Butler. The couple got married in 2023, with the Beastly star giving birth to their first child in 2024. The couple announced this past summer that they were expecting a second child. She showed off her baby bump in an Instagram post last month.
Zac hasn’t disclosed any official relationships, though he’d previously been rumored to be dating Michelle Rodriguez, Sami Miró and Halston Sage over the years.
January will mark 20 years since the original release of High School Musical on the Disney Channel.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK ZAC AND VANESSA HAD STRONG CHEMISTRY IN HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL?
