Zac Efron has revisited the high school from the High School Musical series in a nostalgic image posted on social media. The star, who has since moved on to blockbuster films like Baywatch and The Greatest Showman, as well as exploring the world in his Netflix reality show Down to Earth with Zac Efron, got his start in the Disney Channel Original Movie. He starred as basketball player-turned-singer Troy Bolton in the 2006 film, which became a huge hit for the network and spawned two sequels (one of which went to theaters), a Disney+ original series, and a spin-off featuring Ashley Tisdale's character Sharpay Evans.
Salt Lake High School East, which plays the fictional East High, is nearly as important to the franchise as the characters. It has appeared in every film in the franchise (with the exception of the largely forgotten direct-to-video Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure), and it returned to the screen when Disney debuted High School Musical: The Musical: The Series in 2019. In the meta musical comedy, the high school plays itself in a world where the High School Musical movies exist and students who go to the actual high school put on a theatrical production based on the first film. That show launched the career of pop diva Olivia Rodrigo and has featured cameos from several performers who appeared in the original films, including Lucas Grabeel and Kaycee Stroh.
Today on Instagram, Efron shared a photo of himself standing in front of Salt Lake High School East. Both his caption ("Don’t you… Forget about me") and his fist-pumping pose are a reference to the classic John Hughes teen comedy The Breakfast Club. This is the first time that Efron has returned to the school since the end of the High School Musical phenomenon. Check out his post below:
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For obvious reasons, this post has led to speculation that Efron will be appearing in the upcoming High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season 3, which premieres on Disney+ next week on July 27, 2022. A cameo from Efron wouldn't be completely out of the question, given the show's penchant for including former High School Musical stars. However, one important thing to note is that this season of the series is taking place at a summer camp and may not include many scenes set at the school, if any.
Efron may be teasing an upcoming cameo or merely honoring his High School Musical legacy. Either way, it's certainly exciting for fans who grew up with him and Troy Bolton. Many actors who get their start in projects geared toward children and pre-teens tend to try to distance themselves from those projects as they grow older, so he is paying proper homage to the films and fans that paved the way for him.
Source: Zac Efron/Instagram