Ashley Tisdale Explains Why She Won’t Play Sharpay Ever Again
Ever since the third High School Musical movie came out in 2006, fans have been wondering — will there ever
Lillie Gissen
Ever since the third High School Musical movie came out in 2006, fans have been wondering — will there ever be a fourth flick or was that the final one?! Well guys, Ashley Tisdale just opened up about the possibility of a reboot, and she admitted that she would never want to reprise her character Sharpay Evans, and here’s why.
“No… I just feel like I wouldn’t be able to really do that again and give it justice,” she told Entertainment Tonight in a new interview. “You know what I’m saying? I think at that moment in time, I was very unaware of myself and my surroundings, and I feel like that’s a big part of Sharpay. She is just not really aware, and so as I grew up and became more aware, I think that it’s just something that it wouldn’t be the same. It’s so good, and it’s like, for me, I would hate to ruin something that is perfect for that moment, and yeah, I don’t think I could go back to it.”
As fans know, the iconic Disney Channel franchise also starred Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman and more. It was about a star athlete named Troy Bolton who fell for a nerdy girl named Gabrielle Montez at a New Year’s Eve karaoke party. Together, they auditioned for the high school musical, but when mean girl Sharpay Evans and her brother Ryan tried to sabotage them and steal the roles, it made things a little complicated.
What Have The Other Stars Said About The Possibility Of A Reboot?
It turns out, Tisdale isn’t the only one in the cast who has admitted that they’d have trouble returning to play their old character. Yep, Grabeel — who starred as Ryan Evans, Sharpay’s brother — admitted that he would have trouble starring as Ryan again, after the director Kenny Ortega revealed that the character was actually gay.
“There’s so many amazingly talented gay actors that could do it as well, so if High School Musical was made today – I don’t know if I would play Ryan,” he shared with TMZ. “I would love to, but the last thing I want to do is take an opportunity away from other people.”
And this isn’t the first time Tisdale has spoken out about this. In 2018, when E! News asked her if she would ever return for another HSM movie, she said, “I honestly don’t think I would.”
“I don’t know if I could fill her shoes again,” the actress continued. “I’ve matured so much, I just don’t know if I could give her justice — Sharpay — and be that character again. And I would hate to not have it be great.”
Plus, Hudgens also echoed Tisdale’s sentiments while chatting with J-14 in 2019. She said, “That was a moment in time that was really special. I’ll always be grateful for it, but let’s let it be that moment in time.”
Will Any Of Them Appear In The New ‘High School Musical’ Series?
For those who missed it, Disney actually released a new HSM spinoff show called High School Musical: The Musical: The Series back in November 2019. And no, it did not retell the original story of HSM. Instead, it focused on a new group of students — 15 years after the original movie — as they prepared to put on their school’s production of High School Musical. That means they sang the old songs and a bunch of new ones! It starred Joshua Bassett, Olivia Rodrigo, Sofia Wylie, Kate Reinders, Matt Cornett, Dara Reneé, Julia Lester, Frankie A. Rodriguez, Larry Saperstein and Mark St. Cyr, and it was a huge hit. Now, it’s gearing up for its third season, and we can’t wait to see what happens next.
As fans know, a few of the OG stars — including Grabeel and KayCee Stroh — actually made appearances in Season 1, and boy, was it epic to see them again! So will any other original cast members visit East High during the next season of the show? Well, creator and executive producer Tim Federle told DigitalSpy that “potentially” we could see some familiar faces in the future!
“There’s a big fanbase of people who loved the originals and came to check our show and saw that we paid great homage to the original,” he explained. “But I’ve also been somewhat surprised and heartened to discover that there’s a fanbase that truly comes to the show for Ricky and Gina and Nini, for these new characters and new songs. I have also wanted to take the pressure off myself, for it to be such a High School Musical-palooza, and trust that these new cast members especially are compelling and appealing enough to really bet on them, more than bells and whistles.”
He also told them in a previous interview, “I think that I’m always looking to expand the kind of guest star cast, just because I think it’s so fun to see people pop up on the show… If you happen to be out and see Zac Efron, please mention it to him. I’d love for him to give me a call.”
Previously, Efron did say that he would be down to make an appearance in the show, so we’re crossing our fingers!
“Absolutely, 100 percent. I don’t see why not,” he told Extra TV. “I’m not, like, committing to it — I didn’t know there was [a new series], but that’s awesome.”