THEN AND NOW: The cast of 'High School Musical,' 17 years later
"High School Musical" was released in January 2006, starring Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens.
The success of the Disney Channel film led to two sequels released in summer 2007 and fall 2008.
Efron is now a bona fide movie star, currently playing Kevin Von Erich in "The Iron Claw."
Zac Efron starred as Troy Bolton.
He was the most popular guy at East High, equally talented at singing and playing basketball. Troy fell in love with Gabriella after meeting her at a ski resort and reluctantly being paired up for karaoke.
Efron plays real-life former wrestler Kevin Von Erich in A24's new biopic "The Iron Claw."
It's unclear when Efron and costar Vanessa Hudgens began dating in real life, but they split in 2010.
Since "HSM," Efron showed off his smooth moves as Link Larkin in the 2007 movie "Hairspray." He also led R-rated films like "That Awkward Moment," "Neighbors," "Dirty Grandpa," "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates," and "Baywatch."
In December 2017, the actor starred in "The Greatest Showman" alongside Zendaya and Hugh Jackman. The actor also voiced the character Gary on the animated Facebook Watch series "Human Discoveries."
He played real-life serial killer Ted Bundy in Netflix's 2019 movie "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile."
Efron has a YouTube channel, where he posts fitness and travel videos, too. His love for adventure led to a Netflix travel series titled "Down to Earth With Zac Efron," which debuted on the streamer in 2020. The show returned for a second season in November 2022.
Efron also starred as Andy McGee in a 2022 reboot of Stephen King's "Firestarter" and played Chickie Donohue in the 2022 film "The Greatest Beer Run Ever," based on a book of the same name by John "Chickie" Donohue and Joanna Molloy. He's set to appear in a remake of "Three Men and a Baby" for Disney+. The actor will also star alongside Nicole Kidman and Joey King in an upcoming rom-com for Netflix.
In preparation for his role as Kevin in "The Iron Claw," Efron gained 15 pounds of muscle and used old-school body-building techniques.
In recent years, the actor has sustained injuries, including tearing his ACL, dislocating his shoulder, and shattering his jaw.
He told Men's Health in 2022 that his jaw injury occurred after running through his house, slipping, and hitting his chin against a granite fountain. Efron denied plastic surgery rumors, telling the publication that the change in the appearance of his jawline is due to the masseters, which are muscles in the face, growing larger.
Gabriella Montez was portrayed by Vanessa Hudgens.
Gabriella was one of the smartest students in her class. She was shy, but showcased her fun side whenever she took the stage for a performance.
Hudgens has made a name for herself as both an actor and singer.
Hudgens released two albums (one in 2006 and the other in 2008). In 2012, she starred in "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" with Dwayne Johnson and "Spring Breakers" with Selena Gomez.
She hit Broadway with the titular role in the musical "Gigi," which ran for a few months in 2015. The actor also sang and danced as Rizzo in "Grease Live!," starred on the short-lived NBC sitcom "Powerless," and was a judge on Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance."
These days, Hudgens is keeping busy on-screen and off-screen.
She appeared on the big screen in two films released in 2018, "Dog Days" with Nina Dobrev and "Second Act" with Jennifer Lopez, and starred in the Netflix thriller "Polar."
She also portrayed Maureen Johnson in Fox's "Rent: Live" and appeared in "Bad Boys for Life."Hudgens played three roles in the Netflix Christmas rom-com trilogy "The Princess Switch," released between 2018 and 2021. She also starred in another holiday movie for the streaming service called "The Knight Before Christmas."
In recent years, she also starred alongside Andrew Garfield in the autobiographical musical "Tick, Tick... Boom!"
Outside of her film roles, Hudgens relaunched her skincare brand Know Beauty, in March 2023.
The actor dated "Elvis" star Austin Butler for nine years, but their split was revealed in January 2020. Hudgens married Cole Tucker, a baseball player, in Mexico in December after three years together.
Ashley Tisdale played mean girl Sharpay Evans.
Sharpay loved attention, and didn't appreciate people who were also gifted performers.
Ashley Tisdale is now an actor, singer, beauty founder, and executive producer.
Prior to "HSM," Tisdale was already Disney Channel royalty for her role as Maddie on "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." She continued playing the Tipton Hotel's candy counter girl until the show ended in 2008 and voiced the character Candace on "Phineas and Ferb."
The singer dropped two albums (in 2007 and 2009), and also released her third studio album, titled "Symptoms," in May 2020.
She tied the knot with musician Christopher French in 2014 and they welcomed a daughter named Jupiter Iris French in March 2021.
Tisdale branched into beauty with the creation of Illuminate Cosmetics in 2016. She also launched the wellness blog Frenshe, which led to the development of a personal care brand called Being Frenshe.
More recently, Tisdale starred as Jenny Kenney on the CBS sitcom "Carol's Second Act" and Kayla on Netflix's "Merry Happy Whatever."
She reprised her role as Candace in the 2020 animated film "Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe" and voiced a character in "Baby Shark's Big Movie!"
Lucas Grabeel played Sharpay's brother, Ryan Evans.
He was constantly forced to participate in schemes with his fraternal sister. But Chad gained a newfound sense of respect for Ryan after they danced to a baseball-themed routine in the sequel.
Grabeel reprised his "HSM" role on the fourth and final season of the Disney+ show "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series."
He previously guest-starred on season one of "HSMTMTS." During the season four premiere, it was confirmed that Ryan is gay.
After "HSM," Grabeel went on to voice characters on popular TV shows.
You might have recognized the actor's voice on shows like "Elena of Avalor" and "Family Guy." He also voiced a hot dog on the Nickelodeon and Netflix show "Pinky Malinky."
Additionally, he starred as Toby Kennish on the drama series "Switched at Birth" and competed on the Food Network's "Chopped" in 2014. Most recently, Grabeel did voice work for season one of the animated series "Ashley Tisdale in December 2023."
Acting aside, Grabeel was part of a folk-rock band called Midnight Holler.
When Grabeel teamed up with Tisdale in 2017 to sing "What I've Been Looking For" (popularized by the first "HSM" film) the former costars revealed a surprising detail about their relationship.
"We were not close," Tisdale recalled. "We were not good friends, let's be honest."
Grabeel added that they "didn't get off on the best foot," but nowadays they love each other.
Grabeel is also good friends with Hudgens and attended her wedding in December, along with "HSM" costar Monique Coleman.
Troy's wingman, Chad Danforth, was played by Corbin Bleu.
In a 2007 interview, Bleu revealed that he actually came up with the creative and fun catchphrases that were written on Chad's shirts.
"I kept the one that said, 'I worship waffles,'" he added.
Bleu went on to become a Broadway star.
He starred in productions of "In the Heights," "Godspell," and "Holiday Inn." Bleu returned to Broadway in a 2019 revival of "Kiss Me, Kate!"
The actor was also the runner-up on season 17 of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and released two albums.
He guest-starred on episodes of "Castle," "The Good Wife," "The Fosters," "Chicago Med," and "Supergirl." Bleu
Bleu reprised his "HSM" role for season three of "HSMTMTS" and returned for the season four premiere in August 2023.
Bleu has been married to actor Sasha Clements since 2016.
Monique Coleman starred as Taylor McKessie.
Taylor was the leader of East High's scholastic decathlon team and selected as the activities coordinator at Lava Springs.
Coleman now uses her platform to empower others.
Aside from her Instagram being filled with inspirational messages, Coleman was named the United Nations' first-ever "Youth Champion" for her efforts to improve the lives of young people.
She is also a "Champion" for Girl Up, an organization that strives to help young women become leaders.
Like Bleu, the actor competed on "DWTS." She participated in 2006 and finished in fourth place. Coleman remains good friends with Bleu and sat down to interview him for an episode of her talk show, "Gimme Mo." She also scored a Daytime Emmy nomination in 2019 for hosting "Gimme Mo."
Speaking to Business Insider for the 15th anniversary of "HSM," Coleman said that she "went years without working" afterward and "really struggled to kind of find my voice as an artist."
She found fulfillment and purpose through philanthropy and Gimme Mo Youth, which began as a non-profit but now extends to all facets of empowering young people.
Coleman said that her faith and turning to philanthropy helped to "ground" her and make her feel like she did "something that mattered" outside of her job as an entertainer.
In her personal life, she got married to Walter Jordan in 2012, lived in New York, and "recognized that I still want to make sure to achieve the dreams that I have as an artist."
Coleman will continue to empower youths through a children's book that she has in the works. She also wants to play a superhero, like DC Comics' Vixen or Bumblebee, "more than anything."
"Ever since 'Black Panther,' I've finally been able to really see a place for myself and not necessarily in that franchise, but just in general, that there's so much room for more faces," Coleman said. "And I deeply want to be one of them and tell some really cool story."
More recently, Coleman joined Grabeel and Bleu for the season four premiere of "HSMTMTS." She and Bleu also costarred in the 2021 holiday film "A Christmas Dance Reunion."
Songwriter and pianist Kelsi Nielsen was played by Olesya Rulin.
She wrote the song "You Are the Music in Me" for Troy and Gabriella.
Most recently, Rulin appeared on the TV show "The Rookie."
She also appeared on shows like "SEAL Team," "The Night Shift," "NCIS: Los Angeles," and "The Mentalist."
She's close with Coleman and thanked her for "cheering me on and making me see my own potential. All while helping young people around the world achieve their dreams."
Rulin married Joseph Pauline in November 2021 and the couple welcomed their first child together, Ondine Michelle Pauline, in August 2022.
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