Ashley Tisdale 'Never Thought' Co-Star Zac Efron Was Hot: Here's Why

Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale
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The two stars famously appeared alongside each other in the 'High School Musical' films.

His hair swoops and basketball dance skills may have dominated the early '00s, but Zac Efron didn't catch his High School Musical co-star, Ashley Tisdale's, eye when they filmed the hit film franchise together. 

"I never thought that [he was hot], to be honest," Tisdale admitted of Efron on a recent episode of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. 

The 37-year-old actress explained of her 35-year-old co-star, "It’s because I was friends with him before the movie. And he was way younger than me. He was like a brother, too."

Efron, who played Troy Bolton in the films, dated Tisdale's other co-star and pal, Vanessa Hudgens, who played Troy's love interest, Gabriella Montez, for four years during the filming of the hit Disney franchise. Tisdale admitted to thinking Efron looked "hot" on his 2007 partially shirtless Rolling Stone cover. 

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"I was like, ‘For sure, now I understand,’" she shared. "I think I just knew him too well and had been best friends with him for so long that it’s like your brother that you’re hanging out with."

Tisdale also revealed during her podcast appearance that she was almost not even allowed to audition for her future role as Sharpay Evans in HSM

"They were like, 'Actually, no, we have someone in mind already,'" she recalled. 

But thanks to her role on the Disney series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, they brought her in "as a courtesy." 

"[I] met with [director] Kenny Ortega and sang for him. He was like, 'She's gotta screen test,'" Tisdale shared, noting that while others screen testing had weeks to prepare, she had one day.

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