Chris Warren is remembering the special skill that set him and Zac Efron apart while filming High School Musical.
Though Warren, now 34, had been acting for years when he landed the role of Zeke in one of Disney Channel’s most popular franchises, he says he wasn’t as strong of a dancer as some of his costars. But, when it was time to learning the basketball-centered choreography for “Get’cha Head in the Game,” he was in his element.
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Zac Efron, Corbin Bleu, Vanessa Hudgens, Lucas Grabeel, Chris Warren and Ashley Tisdale in 2007’s ‘High School Musical 2’
“Me and Zac [Efron] were the only ones that actually played basketball … So for once I was on the other side of things where I was like, ‘Okay, let me teach you guys how to dribble’, because they know how to dance, but I know how to dribble,” he recalls to PEOPLE.
“All these dancers were huddled around me and Zac trying to ask us advice,” he continues. “ ‘Do we dribble like this? Do we do it like that?’ So that was kind of funny.”
Over the course of the three movies, which were released between 2006 and 2008, Warren remembers he generally bonded most with Efron, now 37, because of their similar interests.
“We both played sports outside of that. We both loved going to the gym and working out. He loved the [Los Angles] Lakers. I actually liked the [Boston] Celtics. We would kind of root against each other when they were in the finals at the time,” he remembers of their friendly NBA rivalry.
Fred Hayes/Disney Channel/Courtesy Everett
Zac Efron, Corbin Bleu, Chris Warren (far right) in “Get’cha Head in the Game’ in 2005’s ‘High School Musical’
“Growing up together from the first one, we are freshmen, and then the second one and the third one … it was fun having someone that had similar interests as me on that set.”
Warren says he considers of his time as part of that cast as his “high school experience,” and thinks fondly of the moments the cast got to spend together off set, going to the movies and sharing meals.
“I’ll always cherish those [memories] because it was such a fun three, four years of that time period of that whole craziness,” he says. “It was really fun getting to bond with everybody.”
More recently, Warren has appeared on Tyler Perry‘s Sistas for seven seasons as Hayden — a character he says is a departure from the roles he’s previously landed.
Picture Perfect/Shutterstock; Jonny Marlow
Chris Warren in 2008 and in 2024
“Tyler’s the best boss that you could ask for because he really looks out for his people and he really advocates for his talent,” he explains. “And everybody that I’ve spoken to from other Tyler Perry shows, they all say the same thing, which is, we just wanted a shot. that’s what he does is he gives you a shot to succeed.”
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“That’s what I love about him, he gave me a shot to play a character that’s not like any character I’ve ever played,” he continues. “I play the nice guy, the … ‘aw shucks’ kind of a guy. And Tyler saw something in me to be this villain, this main villain … and it has really been the most fun I’ve had working because I get to do something that’s totally different.”
But his favorite role, he says, is being a dad to his two kids, whom he shares with wife Layla Warren.
“I love working on Sistas, but the thing I love about it the most is you do a season in two weeks and I’m right back to my family and I get to just be with them almost the entire year,” he says. “My favorite thing in the world is being a dad.”
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