On being a former Disney girl: “It’s so funny. Because before High School Musical, I wanted to be a nitty-gritty actress. And High School Musical came along, and, I was like, ‘Oh my God, fun!’ But the more we did it, the more prude I became…. When I am around kids and they come up to me, of course I am going to act a certain way, but at the end of the day, I’m doing this for myself. I’m going to be doing movies kids can’t watch.”

On instantly clicking with boyfriend Zac Efron: “We got lucky because we started off together, so I think people like us because they fell in love with the characters. Right off the bat, we had a connection. I think everybody could see it. When we had our audition, they paired us together. And he was adorable. I mean, he wasn’t the guy that he is today. Like, he had a gap in his teeth. Yeah! You wanna see? He was a whole different person. Hold on. [She reaches for her iPhone to find a photo of Zac on it.] You’ll laugh!”

On the best thing about her favorite jeans: “A, it goes with anything. And, B, if your jeans hug you the right way, you feel like a sexpot. [Laughs.] And they get better with age!”