It's no secret, at least in Hollywood, that certain "negotiations" were needed to convince Zac Efron to return to the "High School Musical" franchise. The fame that Efron received off the mammoth success of the first two "HSM" TV movies catapulted the actor into a promising feature career that began last summer with "Hairspray." Now, "HSM" has followed his lead to the big screen with "High School Musical 3: Senior Year." Speaking from the set in Salt Lake City, Efron sounds as though he relishes the constant challenges the series has provided him.

"Every day I'm having to learn a new dance, or stretching my voice trying to sing a new song, or figuring out some kind of great scene that we can put together working with Vanessa," Efron says, casually and conveniently dropping the name of his on- and off-screen girlfriend, Vanessa Hudgens.

In "HSM3," Efron's character, Troy, is facing the prospect of separating from his high school sweetheart, Gabriella (Hudgens) as graduation day gets closer. That night, the cast would film the milestone prom scene, and it provided yet another challenge for Efron: waltzing.

"I can't imagine when people did that for fun, because it's so hard," Efron says. "Your feet have to be in the right place at exactly the right moment at the exact count or you are ruined. On top of that, it's hard for me to dance on my own, and then in a waltz you have to kind of guide the girl. You take the lead, as they say. It's funny, but I feel Vanessa leading me a lot more than I lead her."

Now that a majority of the cast members are no longer minors, they are working even longer hours than on the previous two installments But their off time is less stressful than back home. Because the production is shooting in Salt Lake City, Efron and Hudgens have been able to get a "vacation" from the paparazzi who hound them in Los Angeles. Efron notes, "We are working really hard, don't get me wrong. But if we want to go out and get dinner we usually aren't bothered. It's really cool. I'm really excited by that."

Still, it's amazing to Efron how many false rumors continue to spread about him. The day the Hitlist visited the set, a bizarre story concerning Efron's cleaning habits was spreading all over the Web.

"I assure you I showered this morning," Efron says as the assembled members of the press laugh. "And I do it every day. Sometimes twice. So, that's kind of funny. But, honestly, I have tried to pay as little attention as possible to all that stuff. Once you figure out that anyone can write whatever they want, you just learn to not care."

After shooting three movies back-to-back, including the new comedy "Seventeen Again," Efron is hoping to take a few months off before another "cool" script comes his way. He's still on track to star in a musical version of "Footloose," which would reunite him with "HSM" director Kenny Ortega. But Efron isn't sure that will be his next flick. He admits he wouldn't mind first doing another movie without singing. On the other hand, as production winds down, he's already getting nostalgic.

"This feels like we are graduating from a very important chapter in all our lives," Efron says. "This is how it all began for us. And there is no describing how many good times we've had filming these movies. You just wonder if it ever is going to be as fun."

"High School Musical 3: Senior Year" opens nationwide on Oct. 24.

Also: Features archive