Zendaya and Zac Efron's musical spectacular The Greatest Showman doesn't hit theaters until Dec. 20, but they're currently on the always beloved press trips together, spilling all about their movie and of course gushing about each other. Since their characters, Anne the trapeze artist and Phillip, P.T. Barnum's business partner, fall in love during the course of the movie, naturally, fans are dying to know what it's like for the actors to portray this love story. It's two Disney Channel legends coming together in an epic movie and the fact that they're playing a couple just makes it all the more magical.
And our two fave Z's are super close off-screen, really developing a special friendship during their time filming the movie. They had plenty of scenes where they fly through the air together so of course that helped them get to know each other very quickly, which they both spoke about in a new interview.
"Luckily, the point of having a chemistry read is to see if the chemistry exists and magically I think sometimes it just does. So we're magic people that came together and just have chemistry," Zendaya jokingly said. "I will say when you're immediately harnessed together and are running to each other in the air, that is a great ice breaker and bonds you quite quickly."
"It was like, 'Hi nice to meet you, let's swing into each other at 30 miles an hour and see if we can do it' and we actually did it our first try," Zac continued. "I was really impressed with you [Zendaya] at that point. I walked away from that rehearsal and thought, 'Holy cow, she's the real deal.' And from that point, it was pretty evident I had an epic person to work with and that just made me want to elevate even more."
Umm okay, how adorable are they? Seriously, just look at the way they look at each other.
You can feel the love and respect they have for each other as co-stars. And yes, since their characters are an item and they have a cute love story, they do share some smooches in the movie. The first time their characters kiss though means so much since Anne and Phillip are in a forbidden romance.
"You're in the moment! When you're into a character, the whole time they're not allowed to as much as touch, talk, speak, have a moment between each other so every moment, even if they're just touching is incredibly special. It's not just another kiss. It's different. We try to take ourselves out of it and become these two characters and that's their moment," Zendaya said that first on-screen kiss she has with Zac. Oh and Zac's take on it all? Well, he went ahead and dubbed it his favorite on-screen kiss. Ever. Of all time.
"This might be my favorite kiss, I think ever. Just because At this point for these characters, it's so built up, the tension between them is so strong and literally, just a glance between them is electric. And when they finally have the courage in that moment to finally connect and get that kiss, it's that epic musical moment," Zac said. Cue Zendaya's reaction right after he said it's his fave:
Same girl, same. Now, we're totally pumped to see this swoonworthy kiss for ourselves and we're sure it is such an amazing scene for these characters. When Zendaya appeared on Live With Kelly and Ryan, she explained what exactly Zac meant by saying their kiss was his favorite, and it all stems from their characters' story, which they had both already explained.
"I think people get caught in like the actual thought of kissing, but the point is, our characters are these forbidden love characters: they're an interracial couple that at the time, would be completely frowned upon and not allowed. And so the entire time, it's a silent love story," the actress said. "They're not supposed to be seen together, so any moment when they just make eye contact is just so special. At the end when they do get to finally kiss, it's a huge moment. So I think he was talking about the sense of the build-up and how important it is and you know, the social message it still is. We live in a time where people are still trying to tell people who they're supposed to love. So I think it was meant to be more emotional than what it got turned into!"
Honestly, this is all just making us even more excited to see what is no doubt a beautiful love story when the movie is released. And while everyone truly adores the pairing of Z Squared, we can't help but think of another long-awaited kiss a character of Zac's had that viewers couldn't wait to see finally happen: yes, we're talking Troy and Gabriella from High Schol Musical. They almost kissed in the first movie but were interrupted by Chad, although Troy does give G a peck on the cheek after they sing "Breaking Free." We had to wait until the end of High School Musical 2 for the lovebirds to share a smooch and tbh, that was one kiss EVERYONE WAS WAITING FOR.
So okay Zac, we get what you're saying since TGS kiss really does have important significance behind it but c'mon, there was plenty of tension and build-up for Troy and Gabriella we can't deny either. Different kisses in cinematic history, but all epic to say the least.
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