A Scottish actor and singer set to star in a new Disney Channel series says he is “honoured” to be compared to Zac Efron ahead of its release.

Thomas Doherty plays cheeky mountain biker Sean in The Lodge, which begins on Friday.

The teen drama series – filmed and set in Northern Ireland – features am array of young British talent who play sporty youngsters at a holiday lodge in the rural countryside.

(Disney)

21-year-old Thomas’ musical and acting talents have led to comparisons with Efron — who rose to fame in hit Disney musical franchise High School Musical ten years ago.

“For people to make a comparison with High School Musical as it celebrates its tenth anniversary. The success of High School Musical… the comparison is exciting,” he said.

Asked what he thought about the comparisons with Efron, the Edinburgh-based actor said: “He’s had a wonderful career. It’s definitely an inspiration for me, just starting out, to see what he’s done.

“For people to make that comparison, it’s an honour.”

(Disney)

And Thomas said he would love to eventually go into comedy and dreams of working with Hollywood stalwarts Leonardo Di Caprio and Martin Scorsese.

“I’ve always wanted to do that. At the minute it’s not on but yeah, I’ve always wanted to do comedy.”

“I would love to work with people like Di Caprio, Scorsese.”

Describing his character in The Lodge, Thomas revealed Sean is a “confident young man” with a passion for mountain biking.

He is also set to star as Captain Hook’s son, Harry, in Descendants 2, which is being filmed in Canada.

The young star added that being part of the Disney team was “pretty special” and had made his friends back in Scotland “very, very jealous… though not in a bad way”.