Zac Efron takes you inside his heartthrob world

Zac Efron in "17 Again"

Let’s pretend for a minute that guys who look like Zac Efron can be in any given high school. Well, actually they can be, especially if you’ve lived in Los Angeles, like I have. L.A. is where there’s an abundance of beautiful people who are or want to be in the entertainment industry. And L.A. is where Efron’s movie "17 Again" is set, so it’s not that much a stretch to think that someone who looks like Efron could show up as the new kid in a high school.

L.A is also where heartthrob Efron lives and where he sat down to chat about "17 Again," in which he plays the 17-year-old version of Mike O’Donnell, a guy in his 30s who’s frustrated with how his life turned out. The older O’Donnell (played by Matthew Perry), is a father of two and about to get divorced, and he has regrets about marrying his high-school sweetheart after she tells him she’s pregnant. Through a freak occurrence, the older Mike is transported into the body his 17-year-old self, in the present day. With the help of his longtime best friend, Ned Gold (played by Thomas Lennon), the newly transformed Mike enrolls in his old high school, relives his glory days as a high-school basketball star, becomes classmates with his kids and discovers whether or not he made the right decisions. Here’s what Efron had to say about what his high-school experiences were really like and how he’s dealing with being one of the biggest teen idols in the world.

How would you describe working with Matthew Perry?

I play Mike O’Donnell, and I split the character with Matthew Perry, which has been really fun. It’s been a blast working with him. He’s got an incredible sense of comedic timing, just from years of work. I guess if there was one major place I went to Matthew for this character, it was that. He’s got this sarcasm. He’s brilliant at it. He’s really funny.

What was your experience like with "17 Again" director Burt Steers?

I’m learning so much working with Burr. He’s got this brilliant obsession with being real in front of the camera. That’s where the comedy is generated: from real decisions that you find in the scene. I’m just trying to learn that and incorporate it in my acting overall, just in general. And that’s been the biggest thing that Burr has given to me, which is priceless. It really has been great working with him.

What can you say about that standout scene with Mike and Ned fighting with light sabers?

Ned’s house is kind of crazy. He’s a big dork, a big nerd. And he’s got all kinds of memorabilia spread throughout his house. So he thinks that I broke into his house initially. And everywhere in the house, he’s got different battle axes and swords and light sabers. He’s trying to get me out of his house, and I’m trying to convince him it is me. "Hold on, I’m your best friend. You don’t recognize me." But he’s trying to kill me the whole time, with props from ‘"Star Wars." And so yeah, we do have a showdown with light sabers. We just had to. Once we picked them up we were like, "Dude, we could pull this off!"

How convincing is the time-transport element to this movie?

No one really gets transformed into a 17-year-old body, but the thing is we all would really love to go on that kind of adventure. I know I would. "Man, if I could just go back!" So that right there is kind of fun. You want to believe it.

What do you think about going back to high school?

The idea of going back to high school as an adult is incredible, until you actually get there. I think that’s one of the funny parts of this movie. Every year, kids change. Youth society is changing all the time. Even now. When I go back to a high-school campus, it really is like a frightening place.

Zac Efron in "17 Again"

How would you describe being the age of 17?

I would describe 17 as an adventure of self-discovery. Sometimes you don’t appreciate everything you’ve got in life. And this is a pretty classic story about how you should appreciate what you have, especially family. Always appreciate your family, because they’re with you through thick and thin.

Let’s ask the obvious question: If you could go back to being 17 again, what would you do differently?

I wish I had some amazing story about something I screwed up royally that I could go back and change. I guess that’s an important message from the movie. All the mistakes I’ve made in life — and there were a lot— no matter how big they were, they got me to where I’m at today. I don’t think there’s much I would go back and change.

How did you feel going back to a high-school setting?

It was weird going back to high school. It was strange. I could tell that I wasn’t supposed to be there. When you have classes, you sit down , you belong there, you’ve got homework to turn in. You feel like you belong. But man, when you don’t know anyone in high school, they all look at you kind of funny. It’s like, "Who’s the new kid?"

Did you enjoy going to high school in real life?

Yeah. The social aspect is brilliant in high school. I loved hanging out with my friends on a daily basis. Good relationships with my teachers; I was getting good grades. All in all, it was a fantastic time in my life. But then again, I had all the awkward social moments that regular high-school kids go through, all the same insecurities. I think I was a pretty run-of-the-mill high-school student. Seriously, that’s the truth.

How did you tackle the challenge of playing a 37-year-old man trapped in a 17-year-old’s body?

I remember Adam Shankman [a producer of "17 Again" and the director of the 2007 movie "Hairspray," which co-starred Efron], during "Hairspray, Adam came up to me with the idea. I thought it was crazy. "What on earth do makes you think that I’m up for the challenge of playing a 37-year-old?" It was weird. I didn’t enjoy the concept at first.

Then the script came and I read it, and I was actually impressed. I thought, "Man, this is actually a story about how a dad is willing to go to connect t his kids and be with his family." That was fine. It became serious at that point. Then Tom [Lennon] and Leslie [Mann] got involved with the movie, and it really shaped up. So ultimately, it was the challenge of playing a guy that I had virtually nothing in common with, and trying to pull that off. It was refreshing.

There are key moments where you just know Matthew would be fantastic here … That’s what happened. There are a couple of lines that are just all Matt. That was fun. He’d always give me advice … Sometime it was just a line reading, but it would still help.

Zac Efron and Thomas Lennon in "17 Again"

Thomas Lennon in this movie is hilarious. How did you keep a straight face around him when you were doing your scenes with him?

It’s impossible. Tom is the funniest person alive. That man is a genius. I don’t know how he does it. God forbid, if you go off the page with the guy. He’s so improvisational, so in the moment, so real with what he says … He’s very talented.

Did you ever think you’d be doing a light-saber fight in a movie?

That was another fun thing in the movie. I’ve wanted to do a legit light-saber fight since I was 10 years old. And finally, at 21, we made it happen. That’s as close as I’m going to get.

You show off some basketball moves in the movie, like spinning a basketball on your finger. Can you talk more about that?

I think after doing all the "High School Musical" [movies] and after being 17 again, if I spent all that time playing basketball and can’t spin it on my finger, then something would be wrong. I have a basketball in my hand every day on set. You get curious. You start playing it. And that’s what happened. Corbin [Bleu, co-star of "High School Musical"] actually taught me.

How do you get used to seeing yourself everywhere, from billboards, posters, magazines, TV, etc.?

You don’t get used to it. You can’t get used to it. Just two days ago, I was stopped at a red light in the Valley. I was next to a bus stop. I had my windows down and I was playing music. I heard some people yelling, and I was pretty sure it was directed at me. And they were like, "Are you this guy?" And the ["17 Again"] poster was massive, right on the bus stop. I was like, "Oh, God!" And I went as fast as I could to get out of there. Those moments are pretty funny.

Leslie Mann, who plays Mike O'Donnell's wife in "17 Again," says her daughters have posters of you all over their bedrooms. What was it like meeting the girls?

They were great. They were sweethearts. I just told them, "I’m a fan of you guys. You were so good in ‘Knocked Up!’"