Once a wildcat, always a wildcat – especially if you’re Zac Efron making a surprise visit to East High.
Efron, who portrayed basketball and singing star Troy Bolton in the beloved “High School Musical” series, shared a photo of himself making a return visit to the set of the movies on Instagram Friday.
“Don’t you … Forget about me,” the actor wrote in the post, referencing Simple Minds’ song and another fan-favorite teen movie, “The Breakfast Club.”
Efron’s visit to Salt Lake High School East, the Utah school that largely served as a set for “High School Musical,” comes just weeks after Vanessa Hudgens shared a similar Instagram post.
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In “High School Musical,” Hudgens played Gabriella Montez, a high-achieving student and leading singer (and, of course, Troy’s love interest). On June 26, the actress posted a short video of herself outside of East High – accompanied by the onscreen couple’s “Breaking Free” duet from the first movie.
“Do you remember in kindergarten how you’d meet a kid and know nothing about them, then 10 seconds later you’re playing like you’re best friends because you didn’t have to be anything but yourself?” Hudgens wrote, quoting one of Gabriella’s “High School Musical” lines.
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Both of the actors’ Instagram posts have generated endless excitement, including some fan speculation in the comments about possible cameos in Disney+ current “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.” Efron’s post, for example, arrived just days before the premiere of HSMTMTS Season 3 – kicking off this Wednesday.
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“I hope this means you and Vanessa are guest starring on HSMTMTS,” one Instagram user wrote on Efron’s Friday post.
“Once a wildcat, always a wildcat. ❤️” HSMTMTS’s Instagram wrote. The Disney Plus account added: “Once a Wildcat… 🥹🥹🥹”
Disney has not confirmed guest appearances for either Efron or Hudgens. But Corbin Bleu, who portrayed Chad Danforth in the “High School Musical” films, is set to guest star as a fictional version of himself in HSMTMTS Season 3.
In Disney’s first season of HSMTMTS, original “High School Musical” cast members Lucas Grabeel and Kaycee Stroh also made special appearances.
In May, Efron told E! News that he would love to join a possible “High School Musical” film reboot in the future. “My heart is still there … I hope it happens,” he said at the time.
HSMTMTS doesn’t exist in the exact same universe of the “High School Musical” movies. The TV spinoff – which stars Olivia Rodrigo, Sofia Wylie, Joshua Bassett and more – follows fictional high schoolers who attend the Utah school where “High School Musical” was filmed.
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“High School Musical” was fictionally-set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but it was actually filmed in Utah – primarily Salt Lake City. HSMTMTS has filmed in the same school, Salt Lake High School East, as the original movies.
