Sunday, September 30, 2012

Zac Efron charms full house crowd in fan conference


Cameras were not allowed at Zac Efron’s “Penshoppe Fan Conference 2012” Saturday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“Nyakk bawal ang kahit ano camera sa zac efron fan con ng penshoppe,” posted veteran blogger Azrael Coladilla in his Facebook account. “Sm arena policy eh…kaya boom!,” he added in response to his friends’ comments.

It didn’t seem to matter who came up with the idea of banning cameras for this event, though. That certainly did not stop several fans, including celebrities like Anne Curtis, Isabel Oli, Mikael Daez, Andi Manzano and Kiray Celis, from taking snapshots of the full house event and posting them right away on Twitter via Instagram.

“God is good! Thank you to the MOA Arena Family for the last minute VIP tickets!!!! Waaaah!,” tweeted FAMAS Best Actress awardee Anne Curtis before later adding, “I feel like I’m 17 again waiting for @ZacEfron” and “Zac I love you!!!!”

“Just got home from ZAC EFRON’s fancon! Gwapo mo, baby! Yaaay!,” Kiray added in her own tweet past midnight Sunday.

Judging from the trending topics, Zac Efron and #PENSHOPPEFanCon2012, fans were very pleased with what they witnessed and were more than happy to share their elation on Twitter.

Why shouldn’t they? The newest international endorser of the popular fashion retail brand is hands down the most popular member of the Penshoppe All Stars, which also include previous Manila visitors Ed Westwick, Ian Somerhalder, Leighton Meester and Mario Maurer.



Best known for his breakout role as Troy Bolton in Disney’s “High School Musical” TV movie and its two equally successful sequels, Zac is a Hollywood A-lister who has already starred in three movies this year, namely “The Lucky One,” the film adaptation of the bestselling novel by Nicholas Sparks, the ensemble drama “The Paperboy”, which competed for the Palme D’Or in the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, and “At Any Price,” another drama that competed at the 69th Venice International Film Festival.

And as fans found out at his FanCon, Zac is also the ultimate crowd pleaser. After walking the runway, a visibly overwhelmed Zac exclaimed, “It’s hot in here!” and immediately drew screams as he promptly threw his leather jacket into the crowd’s waiting arms.

The pandering did not stop there as Zac referred to “High School Musical” co-star and ex-squeeze Vanessa Hudgens as his “first Filipino girlfriend” during his onstage interview with Boy Abunda.

When Abunda asked, “Are you thinking about getting married?,” more deafening shrieks followed when Zac replied, “I think my wife is already out here!”

As the conversation turned to some of his recent movie roles, the 24-year old actor turned out to be quite the conversationalist and sounded like someone who is genuinely sincere and truly devoted to his craft.

On how he got his role in “High School Musical,” Zac said he auditioned for the part in the theater and met Vanessa right then and there.

“We clicked instantly and we started going through the audition together. We were a group of 40 boys and girls and we had to sing on the piano. They were tapping people and we didn’t know what that meant until they said, those who got tapped may now leave. We were asked to sing, dance and play basketball. At the end, it was just me and Vanessa who were left,” he revealed.

His role as Link Larkin in the film, “Hairspray” required him to do a little more research on the ’60s as he wasn’t born in that era. “I watched a lot of the Broadway show as well as a lot of Elvis over and over. It was really fun,” he admitted.

On dancing with Michelle Pfeiffer in “New Year’s Eve,” Zac said practicing their steps were not necessary. “We just had to do a lot of dancing. I had to shake up Michelle (Pfeiffer)’s character. She turned out to be more lovely.”

And that intimate scene with Taylor Schilling in “The Lucky One”? “The sex scene wasn’t difficult. We wanted to make it as real. It’s awkward talking about this,” he said laughing.

Of course, Zac once again found a way to flirt with the crowd and get them going anew by re-delivering the film’s famous line: “You should be kissed every day, every hour, every minute.”

For his latest film, “The Paperboy,” he only has good things to say about co-star Nicole Kidman. “Nicole is amazing. I’d tell her to come down here and see you guys, too,” he noted.



“I love the Philippines!” he once again declared to another round of screams. Zac’s Penshoppe Fan Con is the culmination of an almost week-long stay in the country that saw him fall in love with our very own Mayon Volcano in Legaspi City in Albay, Bicol.

“Hey everyone, thank you so much for an amazing night! Love you guys. Want to apologize to the fans I promised to meet after the show! Security rushed me out quickly, and I’m deeply sorry. – Z,” he later tweeted.

source: interaksyon.com