Despite ‘soaring and flying’ in his career, Zac Efron had difficulty ‘breaking free’ from the High School Musical hoopla.

The 36-year-old actor opened up about filming W Magazine and how his The Iron Claw co-stars pranked him with songs from the Disney Channel movie series that launched his career.

“People like to [bring up High School Musical] to mess with me. It’s pretty funny. We had a scene where we show up to a party where Stanley [Simons], I think, is singing a song,” Efron, who co-stars with Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson, explained.

“He performed it live, and then they just continued to move on to another song and it was something from High School Musical.”

Despite being taken aback, Efron was determined to hold his cool and remain in character.

“I had to stay in character while that was going on, and everybody else was just losing it. The camera was on me, and I was just trying to stay in character. I felt very uncomfortable,” The Greatest Showman star remembered.

Efron received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last month after progressing from Disney films to more adult parts in films such as Neighbors, Baywatch, and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile.

Efron expressed gratitude to High School Musical director Kenny Ortega and producer Bill Borden for their contributions to his career.