High School Musical will forever be a part of our childhood – a snapshot of simpler times when breaking into song in the middle of the hallway felt like the most natural thing in the world. From Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens’ chemistry to Sharpay’s sass, there is nothing about the franchise that is anything less than iconic. Admit it, we all wanted to be Gabriella!

Basketball had a pretty important role in High School Musical, and it’s insane how much the actors had to practice to nail the dance sequences. In an interview, Zac Efron revisits his time as Troy Bolton and reveals that no CGI was used in the movies. It was all him and his team.

As the captain of the East High Wildcats, basketball wasn’t just a sport for Troy Bolton. It represented the life everyone expected him to live. While the court was his comfort zone, it was also the place where he felt the pressure to conform. Living up to his father’s expectations, working towards a sports scholarship, all while dealing with his love for singing, created a conflict that shaped his entire journey.

We are glad his parents soon came around, but not gonna lie, his scenes on the basketball court were a treat to watch, especially for young girls who had Zac Efron posters all over their rooms.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Efron revisited his iconic performances, and one of them obviously had to be High School Musical. He rewatched the dance number, Get’cha Head in the Game, where he and his team were practicing basketball.

As it turns out, all the shots and passes seen in the scene were done by the actors, and no CGI was used. Apparently, the budget wasn’t enough for CGI.

Here’s what he said,

First thing that comes to mind is I really drilled all those shots. There’s no CGI in there. I don’t think we had the budget for that. So that makes me feel good. That just takes me back to where all of us were at. All the young men on that team, we were so young and so incredibly motivated.

Well, what he thought was so cool in our childhood just got a whole lot cooler! Knowing that every dribble, pass, and shot in the video was 100% real adds a whole new layer of appreciation. It wasn’t just acting, it was full-on commitment from the squad. Efron was, needless to say, flawless in the sequence as always. It’s probably a good thing the producers didn’t follow through with their plan of giving Justin Timberlake the lead role.

Of course, to pull off that dance number, all while handling a very unpredictable basketball, was not going to be an easy task. No matter how effortless Efron and the rest of them make it look, a lot went into making sure that everything would be perfect from start to finish.

The actor revealed that they practiced the sequence two days before the day of the shoot. After 2-3 hours of rehearsing with basketballs, they were confident enough to do it in front of the camera. All it took them was a total of five takes before they nailed the shot.

Efron told Vanity Fair,

This whole sequence with the basketballs and the dribbling in that movie, we started practicing with basketballs, and I think we might’ve practiced it for two days prior to doing all that in sync. We probably had two, three hour rehearsals with basketballs. After five takes, we nailed it. We got it all in one. They didn’t cut from start to finish, and all of us were blown away.

Despite people getting hit in the face with the ball, Efron is extremely proud of everyone involved for pulling it off. This was also the first time they realized that what they were doing was “gonna be cool.” Almost two decades later, High School Musical remains cooler than ever, proving that some things just age like fine wine.

Fun fact: their choreographer Charles “Chucky” Klapow was also in the scene!