The following article is a list of characters appearing in the High School Musical film series. Currently, the characters who appear in High School Musical, High School Musical 2, and High School Musical 3: Senior Year are listed.
The first three films focus on the six main characters. The first film chronicles events occurring over several weeks in their junior year of high school, with the second film taking place the following summer. The third film is set in the final semester of senior year. Classmates and parents of these characters, as well as various other characters, are also featured.
Main cast Troy Bolton
Troy Bolton is the protagonist of the first three films. Depicted as one of East High's most popular students, Troy is also the captain of the school's varsity basketball team, a position he earned in his junior year after joining the team as a sophomore.High School Musical script, p. 61. Retrieved 2009-08-08. The majority of the student body, especially Troy's best friend, Chad Danforth, expects Troy to lead East High to victory. Troy is the only child of Jack and Lucille Bolton; Jack is also the coach of the East High basketball team and puts additional pressure on Troy to excel. Troy is also involved with the school's golf team.
In the first film, Troy meets Gabriella Montez at a ski lodge karaoke party on New Year's Eve. When the school year resumes, Troy finds that Gabriella is a new student at East High. For fear of what his father, friends, and classmates would think, Troy asks Gabriella not to mention his singing performance to anybody else. However, the secret eventually gets out when Troy and Gabriella unintentionally audition for the winter musical after singing in the auditorium. The news throws East High's social order out of balance. Troy finds himself having to choose between Gabriella and the musical callbacks or his team and the championship game. Although his friends initially try to thwart Troy's chances of being cast as the musical's lead, they help him make both the game and the callbacks, which had been scheduled on the same afternoon. Troy and Gabriella earn the lead roles, somewhat angering the drama department's president, Sharpay Evans.
In High School Musical 2, Sharpay has her mind set on capturing Troy's affections and coming between him and Gabriella. Troy, Gabriella, and their friends are hired at a local country club, Lava Springs, but are weary of their new-found employment when they learn the club is owned by Sharpay's parents. Sharpay uses her wealth, power, and influence over Troy, tempting him with college opportunities in exchange for him singing with her at the club's Midsummer Night Talent Show. Troy gives into Sharpay's plot, causing Gabriella, Chad, and their friends to see Troy as a whole new person. Although Troy is being offered a college scholarship, he soon realizes he must not compromise his character while on the quest for his future, and returns to his old self.
In the franchise's third film, Troy once again feels uncertain about his future as high school graduation draws near. While Troy is set to attend the University of Albuquerque, he begins to have second thoughts about other schools he and his father talked about. Coach Bolton and Chad are both insistent on Troy attending the university, but he decides to attend University of California, Berkeley in order to pursue both basketball and theater and to be closer to Gabriella, who enrolls at Stanford University.
In the first three films, Troy is portrayed by Zac Efron, with Drew Seeley providing his singing voice in the first film. The reason for this dubbing is still somewhat unclear, although Efron has told Rolling Stone that the songs the first film were written prior to casting and since the role of Troy was a tenor, they were out of his vocal range as Efron was a baritone.Rolling Stone, issue #1033, Aug. 23, 2007. Retrieved 2009-08-08. Seeley, who auditioned for the role before Efron was cast, played Troy in the High School Musical concert as the latter had a scheduling conflict with the filming of Hairspray, and was thus, unable to join the tour. Efron, however, did all of his own singing in the next two films.
Casting for the role was a multi-audition process, and candidates for the role included Hunter Parrish"Big Man Off Campus" GQ. Retrieved 2009-08-08. and Sterling Knight.Sterling Knight interview. The Bonnie Hunt Show. YouTube. Retrieved on 2010-02-05. Efron had previously audition for a Disney Channel pilot that was not picked up by the network a few years prior to casting for High School Musical.Child Stars: Casting Director Judy Taylor Backstage Casting. YouTube. Retrieved on 2009-08-09 Although the franchise did continue with a fourth film, Efron and his character did not return."Zac Efron Says No to High School Musical 4" Waleg, Retrieved on 2009-08-08.
In other media Efron reprised the role in the sketch "High School Musical 4" on Saturday Night Live.
In Life with Archie: Archie Love Veronica: Lodge—A Complaint!, when Betty Cooper is talking about how all the men she has dated have all been nothing but "clone[s] of Archie", she lists Troy Bolton as one of those she has dated.
Gabriella Montez
When the two settle in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Gabriella's mother promises they will not relocate until she graduates high school. Gabriella begins attending East High mid-year in the first film. Hoping to escape the "freaky genius girl" reputation she had earned at her previous schools,High School Musical script, p. 8. Retrieved 2009-08-08. she does not join any extracurricular activities. Her first friend at East High is Troy Bolton, whom she had met at a ski lodge karaoke party on New Year's Eve, however she quickly makes friends with Taylor McKessie, who finds out about Gabriella's various academic accomplishments and urges her to join the school's national academic decathlon team. Gabriella is hesitant, but eventually agrees. Having unearthed a passion for performing at the karaoke party, Gabriella decides to audition for the school musical, but is too late. It is only when the musical's director, Ms. Darbus, overhears Gabriella singing with Troy that she gives them both a callback. Gabriella is uncertain about pursuing the lead role, especially when Taylor and the other members of the decathlon team tell her that the musical will take her focus off the upcoming decathlon event. Taylor and her friends stage an intervention, which portrays Troy as not caring about Gabriella or the musical. Heartbroken, Gabriella drops out of the running for the lead role. However, Taylor eventually confesses what she did and helps Gabriella make the decathlon and the musical auditions. Gabriella and Troy earn the lead roles, beating out Sharpay Evans, who had previously tried to thwart her chances of making the callbacks. In the second film, Gabriella has maintained her romance with Troy, and the couple, along with their friends, get jobs at the Lava Springs country club. Seeking revenge, Sharpay lures Troy away from Gabriella and his friends, showering him with various luxuries, including promising college opportunities. After Troy repeatedly breaks his promises and backs out of his commitments, Gabriella breaks up with him, only for the couple to reunite. In High School Musical 3: Senior Year, a Stanford-bound Gabriella is uneasy about the fast pace her life has taken. Before graduation, Gabriella briefly considers taking classes at the local university for a year and going to Stanford when she is ready, much to the dismay of Taylor and Ms. Montez. Troy urges Gabriella to accept an early orientation. Gabriella goes to Stanford but must drop out of the school musical (allowing Sharpay to fill the lead role) and miss prom. Wanting his last dance at East High to be with Gabriella, Troy drives to Stanford and the two share an intimate prom of their own. He convinces Gabriella to return to East High for opening night of the musical and for graduation. Gabriella will attend Stanford and study law. She was referenced by Sharpay in Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure.
Gabriella, who was named for the daughter of High School Musical writer Peter Barsocchini but modeled after a girl Barsocchini met before his teenage years,HSM writer Peter Barsocchini on his daughter Gabriella Big Pond. Retrieved on 2009-08-08. is portrayed by Vanessa Hudgens in the first three films of the franchise. Hudgens had previously auditioned for other Disney Channel projects. During auditions, Hudgens was paired with Zac Efron, who landed the role of Troy, at each callback,"Catching up with the cast of High School Musical" Scholastic. Retrieved on 2009-08-08. with director Kenny Ortega saying "We tried to separate them and try them with other partners but it didn't work. The magic was already there between them.""High School Musical Cast: London Press Junket" Gossip Center. Retrieved on 2009-08-08. Following Hudgens' 2007 nude photo scandal, reports claimed that Adrienne Bailon and other actresses would replace Hudgens in the third film of the franchise.Adrienne Bailon Vanessa Hudgens ‘High School Musical’ Replacement Pop Crunch. Retrieved on 2009-08-08. However, Disney had denied the reports'Musical' star not dumped by Disney MSNBC. Retrieved on 2009-08-08 and Hudgens returned for High School Musical 3. Hudgens did not reprise her role for the fourth film.Back to Junior Varsity for Disney's "High School Musical" Franchise The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-08-08.
Sharpay Evans
Sharpay Evans is the main antagonist of the first two films and the co-president of the East High drama department alongside her twin brother, Ryan, with whom she has starred in 17 school productions.High School Musical script, p. 10. Retrieved on 2009-08-09.High School Musical script, p. 28. Retrieved on 2009-08-09. Sharpay appears to have the most power in the drama department, leaving Ryan as her right-hand man. However, the sibling loyalty is not always mutual. Classmate Taylor McKessie suspects that if Sharpay "could figure out how to play both Romeo and Juliet, her own brother would be aced out of a job."High School Musical script, p. 33. Retrieved on 2009-08-09. Sharpay's family is very affluent; their wealth stems from the country club, Lava Springs, her parents own. In High School Musical, Sharpay is shown as being somewhat popular. Students on East High seem to fear her, as they scour to make room for her in the hallways or cafeteria. Fear also appears to be the reason why other students, such as Kelsi Nielsen, remain a part of Sharpay's posse. Sharpay is sometimes the victim of playful jokes and light teasing from the East High basketball team, despite the fact that one of their star players, Zeke Baylor, has a crush on Sharpay. Sharpay's talents are challenged for the first time when Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton are called back for the lead roles in the musical. To ensure that she and Ryan remain in the spotlight, Sharpay convinces Ms. Darbus, the musical's director, to switch the date of the callbacks to the same day as Troy's district championship basketball game and Gabriella's national decathlon. However, Troy and Gabriella still manage to make the callbacks and are cast in the lead roles.