King of the Whirl

And you, on the other hand, are already ferociously successful on a national stage?

"No! No! That's not what I'm trying to say!" Efron says. "Please, I don't want things to come out the wrong way."

Forgive him, because nothing prepared him for this. In fact, even when "High School Musical" (known as "HSM" to the initiated) premiered in January 2006, he had no idea what was coming his way. In what has already become industry legend, the movie became mammoth because of its repeat business: No matter how many times it re-aired, it kept getting huge viewership. The CD was the biggest seller of the year. It spawned a concert tour (without Efron, who was filming "Hairspray") and a sequel -- which will premiere Friday on the Disney Channel -- and there are already plans for a third edition.

With or without Efron.

Of all the stars of "HSM," Efron is the first to take his niche success to a different level. "Hairspray" was, he acknowledges, a big leap for him, and he almost blew the audition.

"The first time, I went in with this long blond hair, the surferlike look," he says. He hadn't done his homework. He didn't impress. And he didn't expect to be called back. But the producers figured they would be idiots if they didn't give it another shot.

"How can you deny Zac's popularity?" Meron says. "He's like the leading teen and number one thing out there right now, and Link Larkin is the leading teen idol in Baltimore in the movie. It came together perfectly."

On his callback, Efron says, he did more "nitty-gritty Link" and impressed enough to get the job.

"He's what a 19-year-old should be," says James Marsden, who plays dance show host Corny Collins in "Hairspray." "He's very intelligent, he's very talented, and he has zero ego."

Efron is a throwback to the days of Donny Osmond and Shaun Cassidy; he's the ultimate Tiger Beat pullout poster. He made People's "50 Most Beautiful" list. He got invited to the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. When he and 16-year-old Emma Roberts -- Nancy Drew in the recent film, and the niece of Julia Roberts -- posed together for a teen magazine cover, she asked him for an autograph for her little sister. And when he went to a Cheetah Girls concert, his presence caused such a commotion that security had to take him outside.

He's also seen the downside. While vacationing in Hawaii with Vanessa Hudgens -- his "HSM" co-star -- the twosome were beset by paparazzi, who snapped them nuzzling and hand-holding and generally confirming the rumor that they are an item.

"I don't want to be the 19-year-old kid who has his relationships all over the media," Efron says. "I approach dating in a very lax way. A lot of things can get blown out of proportion. I'd rather be completely anonymous."

Fat chance.

Efron is leveraging his success in some ways. He's still negotiating when it comes to signing on for "HSM3." And one of the big hush-hush secrets when "HSM" came out was the fact that most of Efron's singing was dubbed, using the voice of Drew Seeley (who also replaced him on the concert tour) -- in large part because the musical numbers were written prior to casting and the range wasn't suited to Efron's talents. In "HSM2," Efron insisted on doing his own voice work.

"I wanted to fully play Troy, and that involved singing," says Efron, who calls his voice "unpolished" and "not angelic," but who did his own musical numbers in "Hairspray."

As for the dancing, which is key to both "Hairspray" and the "HSM" franchise, Efron calls himself a novice who had to work "four times as hard" as his colleagues to get the moves down. His future dreams? He'd like to play "a heroic character."

For now, though, he's about to go through yet another round of "HSM" insanity, with little girls like Maddie Hedrick looking at him with those big, adoring eyes that have always been reserved for the "It" boy of the moment.

"He borrowed my pen," she says in what is almost a wail, as she stood outside the Charles, Efron having disappeared inside for the screening. "And he signed for everybody in my row but me!" Which, on the one hand, is a tragedy.

But on the other? Zac Efron touched her pen.