Before he was a grown-up movie star, Zac Efron was just a young guy who idolized Michael Jackson.
Zac became a star in Disney’s “High School Musical” in 2006 and its sequels. Later he moved on to movies like “The Greatest Showman” and “The Iron Claw.” He’s told this particular story on several TV shows over the years, including “The Queen Latifah Show,” “Live! with Kelly and Michael” and “The Graham Norton Show.”
The man who made the call happen was Kenny Ortega. Kenny directed and choreographed “High School Musical.” Long before that, he’d worked closely with Michael and created his Dangerous and HIStory world tours.
Zac has never said exactly when the call happened. It was around the time of “High School Musical.” He was with Kenny one day when Kenny handed him the phone, and Michael Jackson was on the other end.
Zac did not play it cool.
He was so starstruck that he rambled. Michael, very politely, asked for the phone to go back to Kenny. And just like that, Zac’s big moment with his hero seemed to be over.
Here’s Zac telling it himself on BBC’s “The Graham Norton Show” in 2017.
Zac Efron tells Graham Norton about his phone call with Michael
Then the phone rang again.
It was Michael, and he wanted to talk to Zac. The first time around, Michael hadn’t realized who he was talking to. On “Live! with Kelly and Michael” in 2017, Zac shared Michael’s apology: “Oh, I didn’t know who it was. I didn’t know who I was speaking to. I’m sorry. I’m a big fan.”
Zac talked about Michael being a fan of his on “Live with Kelly,” and you can hear it from him in this clip.
Zac Efron talks about Michael on “Live with Kelly”
On the BBC, Zac remembered how Michael started that second call. “Oh, this is Zac from High School Musical?”
So the King of Pop knew his work after all. Michael told him he loved it and that he was a huge fan.
That’s when Zac completely fell apart. “I like slid down to the floor pathetically and professed how much I loved him,” he said.
He thanked Michael for what he’d taught him. “Thanks for showing me how to dance, how to believe in myself.”
Zac wasn’t the only one with tears in his eyes. “That made him cry. So we’re both crying to each other on the phone.”
He told “The Queen Latifah Show” about those tears too, so here’s one more chance to hear him tell it.
Zac Efron tells Queen Latifah about his call with Michael
Michael had one more line for him before the call ended. “Dreams really do come true, don’t they?”
It’s a funny twist when you think about it. A young actor finally gets to tell his idol what he means to him, and it turns out the idol is a fan right back.
Years later, Zac went back on Graham Norton’s couch while promoting “The Iron Claw” and acted the whole call out again.
Zac Efron acts out the Michael Jackson call on Graham Norton years later
The two Graham Norton clips make a nice pair. The first is from 2017, and the second is the later retelling, so you can hear how the call sounds when Zac acts it out years after it happened.
Kenny Ortega only handed a young actor a phone that day. Zac came away with a story he’s told on TV again and again, and at the heart of it is the moment Michael picked up the phone and called back.