July 18, 2007 | Celeb Watch

"Hairspray" hottie gets in our eyes

Actor Zac Efron was born October 18, 1987, which means we can profile the super-cutie without feeling guilty about it!

His big break came with the Disney movie "High School Musical," which, believe it or not, was one of the biggest teen hits of 2006. It also resulted in five simultaneous song credits for Efron on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

His most recent role is in "Hairspray", out this Friday, where he plays the lead character Link Larkin. He beat out as many as 200 other contenders to co-star with John Travolta and Queen Latifah.

Director Adam Shankman admitted, however, that he almost passed on Efron for the role. 

"I need to credit my sister, who's my producing partner, with Zac, because I didn't get it," Shankman said. “She made Freddie Prinze a star and Channing Tatum a star and she seems to know who these stars of tomorrow are far before anyone else does. She screamed at me when I passed on Zac."

We would have screamed at you, too!

• Zac Efron finds link between ‘High School Musical’ and ‘Hairspray’ [Boston Herald]
• Zac Efron doll maker [Cartoon Doll Emporium]