High School Musical cast feuds – ‘hated each other’, death glare and on-set fight

Disney’s High School Musical birthed some truly iconic stars – including Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale.

The sentimental teen flick, released in 2006, followed high school juniors Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez, who fall for each other while starring in the annual school production. Along with iconic tracks like Breaking Free and Get’cha Head in the Game, the movie birthed a whole franchise and spin-off TV show.

Behind the scenes, however, things were more than tense. Two cast members actively “hated” each other, while one major star was snubbed by Disney bosses from the promo tour of the third instalment.

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Daily Star lifts the curtain to discover who didn’t get on in the hallowed halls of East High – and whether they’re friends again these days.

‘Hated each other’

Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel didn’t get along while filming – despite playing twins. Actress Ashley Tisdale shared the truth on her YouTube channel, confessing: “We were not close. We were not good friends, let’s be honest. It’s been 10 years, so we can talk about this now.

“We hated each other. Like, I’m not kidding.” Her co-star Lucas, appearing in a video with his former co-star, admitted: “We didn’t get off on the best foot.”

And that was because Ashley tried to give him a list of notes from the audition stage. Lucas explained: “I just want to work on my own thing, and I came prepared. But we ran through the scene together outside, and she gave me notes in true Sharpay fashion. I was like, ‘Who is this girl telling me how to do my own audition?'”

Ashley said: “Lucas and I didn’t get along at first, because when we were screen testing, I was giving him line readings. I think we just didn’t know each other.

“And I think I was a lot like Sharpay, and Lucas was like, ‘Who Is this person?’ And I was like, ‘Who is this person?’ But after we wrapped, I don’t know. I’ve always had a love for you. You’re literally like my twin brother.”

Now the pair are friends again, with Lucas admitting he “loves” Ashley too – so it all worked out in the end.

Love triangle

Though they all starred together in the TV spin-off, Bad Idea Right? hitmaker Olivia Rodrigo was caught in some central High School Musical drama with her co-stars Joshua Bassett and Sabrina Carpenter.

Though they never confirmed who was romantically involved with who, fan theories abounded about songs released by the trio – specifically Rodrigo’s Driver’s License. In it, she changed the lyrics from “brunette” to “blonde” to reportedly reference Sabrina.

While Bassett released Anyone Else, which was confirmed to be written about falling for a friend who was unavailable at the time, singing: “How am I supposed to think about anything else? / How am I to go on keeping this to myself? / I am done pretending I want anyone else / Anyone else, anyone else.”

Now Sabrina is rumoured to be dating Saltburn star Barry Keoughan, while Olivia sparked romance rumours with actor Louis Partridge.

‘Death stares’

Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron met on the set of the first High School Musical movie and hit it off – eventually dating for five years. In December 2010, things came to an end, with Vanessa angry that Zac was constantly being chased by other girls.

She explained to the New York Times: “I went through a phase when I was really mean because I was so fed up. Girls were running after him, and I was giving them death stares. Then I realised that’s not what that’s about. ‘Spread the love, be a good person, they support you, be nice.’”

A source told E! News at the time of their breakup: “It was nothing dramatic. There was no third party involved.” While someone else said: “They were together for so long. It just ran its course.”

In 2014, Zac said he was no longer in close contact with Vanessa. But Hudgens speaks fondly of their past romance, explaining: “It started off really organically. I could not have been more grateful to have that relationship at the time.

“It was this massive phenomenon and [all] eyes were on me. And it’s just a really weird foreign thing to go through, and by being in a relationship, it kind of kept me stabilised and grounded, and I had someone to lean on who was going through it as well.”

Snubbed star

Monique Coleman was left heartbroken when she was snubbed from the promotional tour for High School Musical 3 – despite being one of the main characters. The Taylor McKessie actress confessed that being significantly older than her co-stars was difficult.

She explained: “Corbin [Bleu] and I are nine years apart. Vanessa and I are eight years apart. I was 24 years old working with 15- and 16-year-olds, having an entirely different perspective.

“Disney really broke my heart. They said something about there not being enough room on the plane. I really championed the film, I always spoke so positively. And I was a Black girl playing the smartest girl in school, which was a very big deal.”

She added: “It did cause a bit of depression, because it helped me to recognise that I was overly identifying with what I was doing, and not who I was. And that was what led me to take that step and say, ‘Maybe this is my five minutes of fame? Maybe this is it?’”

On-set fight

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One instalment of the High School Musical franchise nearly “fell apart” when Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron had a row on-set. Vanessa explained to The Hollywood Reporter: “I remember one time we did have a fight, and it was while we were at rehearsals.

“I remember Kenny Ortega coming around the corner with the most concerned look on his face like, ‘Oh no, is our movie going to fall apart right now?’ I pride myself on being a professional, so I was like, that aside we are going to move forward and do what we need to do… and we sorted it all out.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk