A generation of America’s youth fell in love with Zac Efron as the jock-turned-leading-man Troy Bolton in Disney’s High School Musical trilogy. And now a new wave of fans are about to encounter a similar fate when Efron returns to his musical theatre roots in the original movie musical The Greatest Showman, out December 20.

Efron plays Phillip Carlyle, a young man with plenty of money but no fulfilling purpose until P.T. Barnum asks him to become the junior producing partner of what would become Barnum’s famous circus. When Carlyle buys in (that’s a duet between Efron and Hugh Jackman you don’t want to miss), he also throws his heart in the ring—falling for the captivating trapeze artist Anne Wheeler, played by Zendaya.

“Falling in love in a musical number on camera is one of my absolute favorite things to do in the world,” Efron says. “That’s the romantic in me. It’s the Moulin Rouge guy coming out. There’s something about professing love through song and trying to win over somebody at any cost with high risk that is one of the best feelings in the world.”

Watch the video for Efron’s full swoon-worthy answer, and his thoughts on pushing the limits to get “Rewrite” right.