The Awful Truth

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"We tried to do the musical version, but we couldn't get the rights." 

—Zac Efron joking back when we asked about his choice to go for a role in Me and Orson Welles rather than another High School Musical or Footloose-type flick. 

It's a major departure for dimpled and goody singer Efron. The 22-year-old wholesome type plays Orson's high-school kid Richard, who lands his dream role in illustrious film and theater legend Welles' production of Julius Caesar, only to be met with unexpected theatrical egos and chick problems. HSM15, this ain't. 

But after checking out Efron in this pretty serious, yet oddly screwball period piece, we realized Z has the potential to take Hollywood—and not just teens—by storm. 

And when we met with well-spoken Zac at the Welles junket at the Four Seasons Hotel in Bev Hills, he told us about his big hankering to "do something different." 

But will it pay off?

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AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac

"They paid for it in the first place—they bought the DVDs, and they bought cable. Either way, they're paying for it."

—High School Musical 3's Olesya Rulin, when asked if audiences are willing to plunk down even more cash in the future to fawn over Zac Efron and the other Disney crew. Jeez, whatever happened to answers like "It's just an honor to be a part of it all"? Not that we're complaining! No, no, no...

Marion Curtis/Startraksphoto.com

"I don't talk about my castmates and their personal lives."

—Olesya Rulin, HSM3 star and Mary-Kate Olsen look-alike, when asked about Zac and Vanessa's relaysh behind the scenes. Better get used to these types of Q's, hon, espesh if you plan on working with either teen heartthrob again. Or was it simply that there's really not much there to blab about? We vote the latter

Eduardo Parra/Getty Images

“Uh, no, I’m not, sorry. I’m 20 years old.”

—90210 hottie Adam Gregory on if he’s a fan of his 17 Again costar Zac Efron’s High School Musical franchise. Last we checked, Zac was 21, and he'd better be a fan of the flick that’s made him a leading man

NBC Photo: Dana Edelson

“I saw a McCain/Palin bumper sticker on a car, and I looked to see who was driving, and the guy was picking his nose. That’s all I got.”

—Chris Warren Jr., one of the High School Musical 3 gang, on who he’s voting for. (Yeah, some of those HSM hotties are of age, who knew?)

Jeffrey Mayer/Getty Images

Move over Vanessa Hudgens—Zac Efron’s main partner in crime is his bestie, Bubba Lewis, another actor he met years ago on the set of a homey feel-good TV flick, Miracle Run. “He’s my boy,” Bubba told us about Z.E. Like they say, bros before moderately talented brunette teen actresses. That’s the saying, right?

Give us what we wanna hear, Bub—what don’t we know about the Zac? “He’s a dork,” B.L. said bitch-lovingly. “His image and all that...He’s such a pretty boy. But we stay up till four in the morning playing Halo all the time on weekends, so he’s a dork, for sure.”

Hmmm. How almost Matthew McConaughey bongo-esque, eh? Who wins at Halo? “Me, I’m a lot better. I throw grenades at him.”

So if he’s such a big nerd, does he ever need to ask you for girl advice? “No, he doesn’t need that. I’m the one who needs to ask him. It’s always been that way, even when we were 14 and 15. We’d go out and see movies on Friday nights, and I’d be like, ‘Man, that girl's pretty, what should I do?’ He’s the one who gives me advice.” Well, at least Zacky’s lady-killer status is accurate.

Whatcha think of Ms. Hudgens? “I remember when he was working on the first [High School Musical], he called me and he said, ‘I met this girl, she’s great.’ I said I wanna meet her, so I met her, and I looked at him, and I said, ‘I approve.’”

Didn’t you already see her in those lascivious leaked photos? Or was that just us? Oh, and how hard is it to have a BF that’s so friggin’ famous? “People stay outside of his place all the time,” fessed Bubba. “It’s crazy whenever we go to Starbucks and we have to work out a plan. Like, I’ll drive my car around back.”

The two dudes are even working together again, on Ef-hon’s new Big-like flick, 17 Again. “He called me one day, and he said, 'I’m doing this movie...there’s a character for a dork, and I want you to be it.' Great, so you’re casting me as a dork...I have to get back at him for that.”

Gosh, babe, think telling a gossip reporter that the biggest teen heartthrob on the planet is a dork is an awfully good start. Keep in touch, now, hear?

—Additional sass by Becky Bain

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Ashley Tisdale is going for a record number of looks here at the High School Musical 3: Senior Year photocall in Madrid. (Guess a love of cheesy ballads and choreographed dance numbers performed by teens cuter than most students in actual high schools knows no geographical bounds.)

We've got the Fame ballet tights, combined with a pair of heels more appropriate for the prom. Then there's the fuzzy skirt that looks more like a Brillo pad, and an oversized fuchsia sweater that wouldn't entirely be out of place inside D.J. Tanner's closet during a rerun of Full House.

And The Tiz tops it all off with her best beauty-pageant updo. We get that you're a fun and free-spirited femme, Ash, but you're not Punky Brewster—try just a tiny bit to have your outfit match, please? Then again, this is prolly the best way to get anybody to talk about you instead of Zac and Vanessa since your nose revamp. And we highly prefer mix-and-matching your clothes than your body parts.