Monday, 3 September 2007

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Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens can't remember their first kiss

Their screen snog never made it into the first High School Musical film

Zac and Vanessa look like the perfect couple at the High School Musical 2 film premiere, California

High School Musical star Zac Efron always finds it funny that he never kissed Vanessa Hudgens in the first movie in 2005.

"I truly didn't realize that there was not a kiss. It never stuck out to me," he says.

Hudgens recalls there was a kiss, but "on the cheek" and "that's as far as we got."

It took director/choreographer Kenny Ortega to remind them.

"You guys, your memories are failing you," he said Friday at a press conference in London to promote High School Musical 2.

The kiss, a real one, never made the screen – that wouldn't happen until the sequel – but it happened, and it was a big deal at the time for the young stars, who became a real-life couple.

"I went to their parents and asked for permission," Ortega says. "I went to Vanessa's mom first, and then to Zac's mom second and said, 'Do you mind if I request a kiss in the event that we want to use it for the end of the film?' And we did it. Then, we all sort of decided that this wasn't about that."

The kiss landed on the cutting-room floor. "You seemed to enjoy it though," Ortega said to Efron, who blushed but didn't deny the comment.

In the latest movie, Efron, 19, and Hudgens, 18, play two East High students who fall in love. While shooting the first movie in 2005, the two teenagers sparked their own off-screen romance.

The high school sweethearts (aka Zanessa) try to keep their relationship low-profile and refuse to talk about it, but their on-screen chemistry is undeniable.

Co-star Monique Coleman revealed that her favorite song in HSM2 is "Gotta Go My Own Way" which is sung by Efron and Hudgens. "It was performed very beautifully and the connection and chemistry was just exceptional," said Coleman.

By Shelley Akers