Caption Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgen’s reaction when they found that TMZ’s Harvey Levin  was sitting next to them at the Lakers game.

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Zac Efron has pulled out of the musical remake of Footloose — nearly two years after he was in talks to reprise the role of Kevin Bacon from the 1984 film.

“Footloose is a project we’ve longed to see re-booted for a new generation. While Zac is no longer attached, we remain excited and committed to the collective brain trust of [director] Kenny Ortega, [producers] Neil Meron and Craig Zaden, who will reinvigorate the franchise,” a Paramount Pictures rep told Usmagazine.com Monday. “Their fresh take on the film will undoubtedly be filled with the same kind of breakout performances that we’ve come to expect from them.”

Although Efron has yet to publicly address his reasons for dropping out of the film, he is reportedly trying to take on more varied roles.

Efron — who rose to fame by singing and dancing in all three of Disney’s High School Musical movies — signed on to star in the Paramount flick in July 2007, the same time as his feature debut, a revival of the 1988 musical movie Hairspray, hit theaters.

The actor, 21, is currently promoting his film, 17 Again, which opens in theaters this April. He is also set to star in the drama, Me and Orson Welles, opposite Claire Danes. The film, in which he plays a Broadway actor who has a chance meeting with Welles in 1937, has not yet been released.

Ortega helmed the High School Musical franchise and will direct and choreograph Footloose, which is slated for a 2010 release date. No replacement for Efron has been confirmed.

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Zac Efron may still be a tween dream thanks to his trio of “High School Musical” movies. But his mom is very aware that the 21-year-old is an adult.

The photos that surfaced last year of Efron and his girlfriend, “HSM” cutie Vanessa Hudgens, in what appeared to be a sex shop, were just one of the things that raised his mom Starla’s eyebrows.

“It was Hallows Eve like, two years ago. It was just a costume store,” Zac clarified to the April issue of ELLE magazine of the location of the snaps. “In the back they have an adult section for adult costumes. And this nice older woman asked for a photo.”

But like most of the public, when Efron’s mother saw the photos, she too wondered what her son was doing in the store.

“My mom is like, ‘Zac, what did you buy in a sex shop?’ I was like ‘Mom, calm down, it’s not a sex shop.’ She wouldn’t have any of it. She’s like, ‘I knew you were being sexual!’” he admitted. “But she understood. My stocking was full of condoms this Christmas. She buys me the economy box.”

And, that wasn’t the only surprising revelation Efron admitted. While discussing his childhood, which saw him performing at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts with mostly adults, the actor admitted he didn’t know why “HSM” was such a hit.

“I liked being the kid in the adult circle,” he said of his days at PCPA. “As far back as I can remember, I couldn’t understand or relate to a lot of kids. I still don’t understand how ‘High School Musical’ became a hit.”

While he didn’t understand the formula that led to “HSM’s” monumental success, Efron said he loves making those kinds of movies.

“I’m going to make as many lighthearted movies as I can. Every time we started a new ‘High School Musical ‘movie, I wanted to keep that kid inside of me alive,” he said.

But the young star is thinking ahead. He recently sought advice from a star he admires – Leonardo DiCaprio, at GQ’s Men of the Year awards.

“I was all, ‘Oh, hey!’ And he turned around and right there I had the ‘in.’ and I was like, ‘I just want to shake your hand, dude, I’m a big fan… I’d love to sit down and talk with you sometime.’ And he goes, ‘Right on,’” Efron recounted. “A few nights later, I was at a Lakers game and I texted him, and he said he was coming. And this guy in a ball cap and coat with the collar up sits next to me. We talked the whole game, and he was just everything I thought he would be: smart, level-headed, charming, hilarious. You know, the older-brother vibe.”

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Zac Efron wants to hide from the paparzzi so badly, that he is willing to shave his head according to OK!

He says, “To be honest, I can’t handle the paparazzi. They’re everywhere. One of them was in a dumpster trying to take my photo the other day. It was crazy!

“Another time, one was hanging off the back of a pick-up truck driving down a road. They think they’re being clever, but they’re not.”

And the pressure could drive the Hairspray star out of Tinseltown - he’s planning to go trekking, unnoticed, around the world.

He explains, “I’d love to take a year off and travel the world under the radar. I would love to do it really low-key.

“I wouldn’t need to stay in fancy hotels or anything; I just want to explore - but I don’t know how I’d do it. Maybe I’d shave my head to try and go incognito? Yeah, that’s what I’d do.”

Don’t do it Zac! He is too cute to go bald even to go incognito. 

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Zac Efron giving out for the kids this holiday season.

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The look of love was in Zac Efron’s eyes when he picked up Vanessa Hudgens to take her out on her birthday.

The High School Musical stars left Vanessa’s house and drove off with Zac behind the wheel for a night to celebrate her turning 20.

Vanessa couldn’t stop smiling as she got into the car yesterday.

And Zac - who appears to be cultivating a fledgling moustache - was carrying something in a brown paper bag.

Vanessa Anne Hudgens - Out with Zac Efron for her 20th birthday

For all of those High School Musical fans who wanted some equal time after being forced to see Vanessa Hudgens naked, they will have to keep waiting. Despite all the rumors and reports, Zac Efron told the French website TeeMix that he won’t be doing the Broadway play Equus because he doesn’t have the balls. Actually his term was that he wasn’t ballsy enough.I don’t know if that is because he is afraid to show off what he has or just that he doesn’t want to get naked every night in front of a live audience with cell phone cameras. Even if I had a great body, I think there is something truly terrifying about the prospect of getting up in front of 1,000 people a night and basically being there naked for 30 minutes. It is quite something else to do it on a film and be done with it and not have to do it every night.

So, I don’t have any problems with Zac chickening out. I know the folks at Disney must be breathing a sigh of relief that their feel good franchise kid doesn’t want to be strutting his stuff on stage for awhile.

“But I don’t know if I would do something edgy for the sake of doing something edgy, I think as I mature, so will my roles. I think it will come with time. I’m not going to do anything drastic.”

What that means of course is that when the whole High School Musical - The College Years gets done with and he has no career, then and only then will he be willing to strip for money and for the shock value. So, all of you 15 year old kids will just have to make do with a naked Harry Potter for now.

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The San Luis Obispo Tribune sat down with Zac Efron and not only did they uncover a lot of stuff about his, they also uncovered this cute picture of him in middle school. Seriously when was he not cheek-squeezing cute?

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