You might want to sit down, Wildcats — one of the most memorable dances from High School Musical 2 was almost entirely improvised.
Zac Efron, who starred as Troy Bolton in all three of the Disney films, revealed that the iconic golf course dance to “Bet on It” was actually cultivated on the fly.
“That was all improv,” he told his A Family Affair costar Joey King during an interview with Still Watching Netflix published on Monday, June 24. “And we shot it, I think the whole song, in like three hours.”
High School Musical 2, the sequel to the 2006 Disney hit, premiered in 2007 and follows the same cast of characters as they work their summer jobs at a country club. The “Bet on It” scene happens amid a fit of anger from Troy at the movie’s main antagonist, Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale). The dance follows him across the club grounds as he punches the air and passionately belts out the lyrics.
Efron not only said the dance didn’t go as planned, he admitted there was no plan at all.
“When we shot that, we just had no ideas for what to do on the day,” Efron said. “The director [Kenny Ortega], he was like, ‘Dude, we have no concept for this song. What do you want to do?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know, we’re on a golf course.'”
King called the dance “iconic,” adding that she had a “mini High School Musical locker” when she was a kid.
“I would put my pencil case in it and all this stuff, and I would press buttons and you would sing to me,” King admitted.
17 million viewers tuned into the High School Musical 2 premiere — a network record that still stands today. Its soundtrack debuted at No. 1 and was certified as double platinum the week of its release. It was the best-selling album of 2007.
Years later, the movie endures, even in Efron’s head. He admitted he still sings “those songs in the shower.”
There’s reason to believe him. In December 2023, Efron recalled in a Buzzfeed interview how he would hum along with costar Harris Dickinson as he would break into the original movie’s “Breaking Free” on-set. He added that people often try to test him on the lyrics from the franchise.
“And a lot of people think that they’re gonna get me when they do it and I’m always so prepared,” Efron said. “But it was so sweet, he has a great voice. I felt very special.”
