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On taking the role of Mike O’Donnell in 17 Again
I was in Toronto filming Hairspray, and the director, Adam [Shankman], approached me and said, “Hey, I’ve got this idea. It’s a movie called 17 Again and it would be like Big but reversed. And you would play Tom Hanks.” So after I made sense of that, it was “Sounds great!”

I could just go off and play a kid anywhere. The idea that drew me to this role was that it’s a different thing playing a 37-year-old-guy. That’s an area I have no experience in. I’ve had a first kiss, I’ve had awkward dates, I’ve had fights with my parents – all that kid drama. But one thing I have not done is gotten in a fight with my daughter, you know? So having nothing to go on for a lot of things was scary. That was really exciting to me.

On his role in 17 Again
I play Mike O’Donnell. Mike is not thrilled with the way his life has turned out. In the beginning he had all these opportunities, so many ways he could take his life, but in one day during high school that’s all stripped from him.

So he wishes he could go back to that day in his life where everything came crashing down. He wants to go re-live that and maybe play it differently. The idea of being able to go back to high school with the knowledge that you have as a 37-year-old – that excited me from day one.

I think most people can relate to Mike, wanting to go back and change a few things in their past. I mean, every day, I look back at things. Before I go to sleep, I think, “God, why did I say that today?” You wish you could go back and change those things.

On the challenges of going back to high school
The idea of going back to high school as an adult is incredible… until you actually get there! It’s like this crazy twilight zone of adolescent insecurities and people trying to grow up and figure out what they want to do with their lives.

It’s crazy in the movie. Nothing comes out right when you’re a teenager. You say the wrong thing. You just do. It’s a part of life. It’s a part of growing up.

One of the funny parts of this movie is that every year kids change – youth culture is changing all the time. Even now, when I go back to a high school campus, it really is like a frighteningly new place.

The pair stars in the new comedy, due in theaters in 2009, about a man (Matthew Perry) who hits rock bottom amid a failed marriage and career. Through a series of events he finds himself 17 again (played by Efron), with a chance to do it all over again. Unsure what to do, he enrolls at his old high school where he attends classes side by side with his rebellious daughter Maggie (Trachtenberg) and son Alex (Sterling Knight).

Stopping by the set of Seventeen Again, we thought we might get to see a little action. The plan was to shoot a beach party in Santa Monica with stars Zac Efron and Michelle Trachtenberg front and center, but the strong ocean breeze blew those plans right out of the water. Luckily, Hollywood.com did catch the costars for a quick chat inside Trachtenberg’s trailer, before the duo took off to film an alternate scene at an undisclosed location.

The pair stars in the new comedy, due in theaters in 2009, about a man (Matthew Perry) who hits rock bottom amid a failed marriage and career. Through a series of events he finds himself 17 again (played by Efron), with a chance to do it all over again. Unsure what to do, he enrolls at his old high school where he attends classes side by side with his rebellious daughter Maggie (Trachtenberg) and son Alex (Sterling Knight).

Hollywood.com: We just heard the beach bonfire scene had to be postponed because of the weather. So what other fun scenes have you been working on?
Michelle Trachtenberg: I felt really bad because the other night I had to slap Zac and that was really hard for me to do. There were like three takes and he was such a trooper. His face was burning red and I was like, “I’m sorry!” He was like, “Just do it. Come on!” He was so funny.
Zac Efron: The thing about slaps on camera is there are so many ways to do it wrong!

HW: You two got to play father and daughter in this film? That’s got to be weird.
MT: I call him dad. [I say things like], “”Good morning, dad.” [Laughs]

HW: Michelle, your character Maggie sounds like a total rebel.
MT: She’s pretty cool. You can’t see it right now but I usually have bright green extensions in or like black and blonde extensions in or burgundy ones. She’s a really fun girl … She’s sort of your typical 17-year-old girl, kind of rebelling against her parents. She’s being inspired by her boyfriend, who is a rebel with a tattoo and just sort of angry at her parents, doesn’t understand why they’re getting divorced and trying to go through her everyday life not caring.

HW: Zac, Matthew Perry plays an older version of your character. Is it true you studied him?
ZE: Yeah, a little bit. He’s got a few mannerisms, a lot of small things that I tried to incorporate … I try not to do too much of it. Only at very few select moments will you see it. I think people are different as they grow older. What I wanted to play a lot with this character is watching his youth come out again, when he comes back to being 17. I didn’t want to be the exact same person.

HW: Have the fans been trying to mob the set at all?
ZE: Sets aren’t the fun place you think they would be. It’s kind of a bunch of ominous, big hairy grips running around with big trucks. It also doesn’t look like a really fun place. There’s no giant “Hey, let’s have fun” signs.

HW: You guys are having fun right? Who is the biggest prankster on set?
MT: It’s me. I’m probably the worst …I make fun of everyone just for laughs.
ZE: That’s gonna be a great quote. I can just see that in print: “I make fun of everyone.”
MT: No. I honestly think that because I didn’t have the same high school experience I’ve sort of just been really odd about the fact that this entire cast really loves each other and we all give each other such fun stuff that we pick on each other.

HW: What were your not-so-normal high school years like?
MT: I think we wrapped Buffy when I was 17–and about a week later I was on my way to film Eurotrip. I definitely was not a party girl, nothing crazy. I sat home and read books and watched Law and Order marathons [laughs]. I still do that. It’s so lame!
ZE: I was a very regular 17-year-old. I don’t know any other way to put it. I wasn’t fighting crime or anything.
MT: You weren’t? I was. Vampires and stuff [laughs].

HW: Did you guys fit in? What kind of clothes did you wear?
ZE: I used to not even care. I’d literally wear pajamas to school.
MT: I wore a uniform to school and I would rebel so hard against the uniform. I’d wear like striped socks and platform shoes and tons and tons of necklaces.

HW: Would you guys go back if you could?
MT: I wouldn’t.
ZE: It seems, having just got out of there, I don’t know if I’m ready to go back. There’s already a few things that I know I’d do differently but that is, in no way, gonna make me go back and relive it.

HW: In a way you get to relive it one more time with the next High School Musical movie.
ZE: Oh, yeah. I have to do that all over again, High School Musical 3 - that I’m looking forward to. It’s great. We’re gonna start in a few months.

Please, ladies. Don’t cry. Ever since we posted our latest Zac Efron “High School Musical” story, devoted fans of the hit TV flicks have been disconcerted over the news that the golden boy is hanging up his dancing shoes.

But wait! Adam Shankman, the producer/director/choreographer of
“Hairspray,” has information of biblical proportions that should bring
screaming 15-year-olds out of their broken-hearted depression. The king
of musicals will shake his perfect little tush once more in the
now-filming movie, “Seventeen Again.”

“We have some very funny scenes between him and Leslie Mann from
‘Knocked Up,’ which are off-the-charts funny,” Shankman gushed. “But
there’s also this big thing with Zac dancing with a lot of cheerleaders
that is very, very fun and funny.”

Add one part Zac Efron, with cheerleaders sprinkled liberally
throughout, and you’ll likely get ecstatic Zac devotees swooning over
the news that he’s not quite finished boogying down. As if that isn’t
enough, another thing to watch for in “Seventeen” is Zac’s maturity
being taken to another level.

“People are going to be so surprised how seriously great he is in
this movie. I’m really proud,” beamed Shankman, producer of the film
that also stars Matthew Perry, Michelle Trachtenberg and “Reno 911!”
star Thomas Lennon. “This is about a man whose life has not gone the
way he wants it to, so he wishes he was 17 again and he gets his wish.
And then he’s realizing it’s nothing like he thought it would be. So
it’s a reverse ‘Big.’ It has as many funny scenes in it as it does
heartfelt scenes.”

“[Zac] has to carry this whole movie as a comedian,” he added. “But there are some very emotional scenes as well.”

Don’t get hung up on the mushy details though, because Shankman promises to deliver all you fanatical Zac addicts their fix.

“Let’s put it this way,” Shankman grinned. “I’m a dance historian, so you know the steps are going to be right on.”