Breaking Free might have been the song that defined Zac Efron’s role in High School Musical, but one resurfaced clip makes it clear that he wasn’t singing at all.
It might come as a painful shock to some millennials that Zac Efron – who played the leading role of Troy in High School Musical – wasn’t actually singing at any point in the film.
Though he would go on to use his own singing voice in the next two Disney sequels, the voice behind Troy’s singing voice in the first movie actually belonged to Canadian actor Drew Seeley.
Going on to star in movies such as 17 Again, Baywatch, and The Greatest Showman, some fans are only just beginning to realize that High School Musical wasn’t quite what they thought it was.
High School Musical fans find “painful” Zac Efron clip
X/Twitter users have unearthed a clip of Troy and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) singing an acoustic version of Breaking Free, citing it as “painfully clear” that Efron had a singing double.
“The way it’s so painfully clear that Drew Seeley is singing here,” the initial quote tweet reads.
One user replied to the thread: “I was pretty shocked to learn years later that Zac Efron didn’t sing most of the songs in HSM. He was lip singing, just never realized because it was so well done.”
“But when Zac’s voice came out after he reached puberty and got them vocal lessons, my mans became Prince Charming in the flesh,” added another. “Vanessa’s voice is different on the CD as well. Especially during Start of Something New,” a third user recognized.
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Seeley, who is also known for roles in Another Cinderella Story and Lovestruck: The Musical, was brought in to dub Zac Efron in High School Musical because of concerns surrounding Efron’s vocal range.
In years since, Seeley opened up on TikTok [via Us Weekly] that he “doesn’t regret” taking on the 2006 singing role.
Responding to a fan asking if Seeley would rather have played Troy outright, he said “Yeah, I mean, I did audition for it. Any actor would have loved that role, but Zac did a great job. He was the right man for the job.
“There’s no drama. People trying to say there’s drama? There really isn’t.”
Simmer down trolls. I never said I was Zac. But I was an important piece of the movie & tour. I'm proud of it. #HSM pic.twitter.com/iEdscqRrcb
— . (@pepelcoineth) January 17, 2016
In later responses to trolls critiquing that he could never live up to Efron, Seeley tweeted: “Simmer down trolls. I never said I was Zac. But I was an important piece of the movie & tour. I’m proud of it. #HSM.”
“It’s such a slap in the face to be told we want your voice but not your face,” one fan responded to the viral video clip, with another counter-arguing “But he [Efron] stepped up for the sequels!”
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