Where Is the ‘High School Musical’ Cast Now?
Where the Original Cast of HSM Ended Up After Senior Year
Believe it or not, the original High School Musical (HSM) movie turned 19 years old in January and even has a spin-off series. You may be wondering what the original cast is up to now. Take a trip down the halls of East High to see where our favorite wildcats are now.
Zac Efron | Troy Bolton
Zac Efron has “bopped to the top” of the Hollywood social scene. He has over 50 entries on his IMDb since starring in the Disney Channel Original movie. These roles include Link Larkin in Hairspray, young Mike O’Donnell in 17 Again, the voice of Ted in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Philip Carlyle in The Greatest Showman, Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, and Fred Jones in Scoob!
He has several projects in the queue including a remake of Three Men and a Baby for Disney+.
In other news, Efron established a popular lifestyle YouTube Channel; is sadly still ~not~ dating Vanessa Hudgens; and, despite what Bob The Drag Queen said on The Traitors, is not a bad actor.
Vanessa Hudgens | Gabriella Montez
After channeling her musical talents in HSM, Vanessa Hudgens released two albums: “V” in 2006 and “Identified” in 2008 before switching gears to acting in notable films like Beastly, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Spring Breakers, tick, tick...BOOM!, and Netflix's The Princess Switch series. She also starred in both Grease Live! on NBC and Rent: Live on Fox in 2016 and 2019 respectively.
On the personal front, she’s not with Efron or longtime boyfriend Austin Butler anymore, but Hudgens tied the knot with former Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Cole Tucker in 2023. The couple welcomed their first child in 2024.
Corbin Bleu | Chad Danforth
Unlike his character, Corbin Bleu chose theater and not basketball after his days at East High.
He was in Broadway shows such as In the Heights, Godspell, Holiday Inn, a revival of Kiss Me, Kate!, and Little Shop of Horrors. He also appeared in episodes of Castle, The Good Wife, The Fosters, The Middle, and Chicago Med. Additionally, he reprised his role as Chad on five episodes of Disney+'s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
Unfortunately, he was only runner-up on season 17 of ABC's Dancing With the Stars (DWTS), which still haunts me to this day.
Bleu proposed to his sweetheart, Sasha Clemens, on a trip to Walt Disney World in 2014, and the couple were married two years later. It was truly “the start of something new.”
Monique Coleman | Taylor McKessie
Just like her character, Monique Coleman wanted to become a political leader and philanthropist, “right here, right now.”
Coleman was named the United Nation's first-ever Youth Champion and has also dedicated her time to Girl Up, an organization that provides young women with leadership training. She also competed on DWTS, only placing fourth, but she did earn a Daytime Emmy nomination for her talk show Gimme Mo in 2019.
She brought Taylor back to East High in two episodes of HSMTMTS.
Ashley Tisdale | Sharpay Evans
The only star to be somewhat known prior to HSM, Tisdale starred as Maddie on the Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
She carried on the role in a guest appearance on the Suite Life on Deck and lent her voice to Candace Flynn on Phineas and Ferb. She’s also released three “fabulous” albums: “Headstrong,” “Guilty Pleasure,” and “Symptoms.” Most recently, she took a role on Netflix’s Merry Happy Whatever miniseries with former Disney Channel star Bridget Mendler as well as reprised her voice role of Candace in the Phineas and Ferb reboot.
Tisdale also owns her own lifestyle and wellness company, Being Frenshe, which has an exclusive deal with Target.
Tisdale married musician Christopher French in 2014. They welcomed their first daughter, named Jupiter Iris French, in March 2021 and their second, named Emerson Clover French, in September 2024.
Lucas Grabeel | Ryan Evans
Similar to his co-stars, Lucas Grabeel didn’t “walk away” from acting after the HSM trilogy. He voiced characters in Elena of Avalor, Family Guy, and Pinky Malinky. He also played Toby Kennish on the popular ABC Family series Switched at Birth and competed on the Food Network's Chopped in 2014.
Singing is still a part of his life too; Grabeel is part of a folk-rock band called Midnight Holler and he even reprised his role as Ryan Evans in a few episodes of HSMTMTS.
He also recently commented that if HSM was made today, he wouldn’t have accepted the role in order to give a gay actor the opportunity to play the role authentically.
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