Interview With Lucas Grabeel

May 6, 2009 | by Disney Dreaming

We miss Lucas Grabeel! We want him to get a role in an upcoming movie stat so we can see him on the big screen! Recently, Lucas was interviewed and asked A LOT of questions about his past role in the High School Musical movies. In terms of whether HSM was his first acting role, Lucas said, “I started acting when I was 12. The first thing I did was a musical called “Secret Garden.” Once I got on stage and saw the audience, I realized this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life so I ended up from then on doing everything I could to get there. I came [to LA] in 2003. I was extremely fortunate to start working very soon doing some national commercials to start out, and then my first film was Halloweentown High for The Disney Channel. I shot that in Salt Lake City as well as High School Musical, so I have a nice little family down there now. [Laughs] Obviously “High School Musical” is the biggest thing.”

When asked what a typical day on the set of HSM was like Lucas said, “When we started, we were in rehearsal so I would roll out of bed, stretch and play with [Director] Kenny Ortega and the choreographers and just have fun all day working really hard. I’ve never sweat so much in my life doing those dance rehearsals. It was hot – we were in a school, in a gym – dancing all day long but at the same time getting to know everybody, which was really nice. Once we started filming I’d wake up and the driver would take me to the set and we would shoot. There was a lot of waiting around, and we got to learn more about each other and have fun. And afterward I would go back to the hotel and soak my whole body in the bath because I was so sore and then just chill for the rest of the night.”

You might be wondering how Lucas trained to play Ryan in the HSM series, well, he says, “I just thought a lot about my own high school experience. Ryan is a spawn of every horrible theater person I ever met back home. I thought of different movies and put those characters together to make Ryan.”

Lucas’ old school is putting on High School Musical as the school play this year, and he doesn’t seem all that happy about it: “It’s pretty crazy and weird. My drama teacher called my mom and told her that my high school is going to put on High School Musical this year, and when I talked to the directors at the two community theaters I went to, they were both doing it too… honestly I don’t think they should do it. I don’t have anything against my high school or community theaters. I’ve gone back a few times and taught a couple classes for the theater and did some fundraisers for their performing troop there.”

As far as offering advice to fans who are looking to get into acting, Lucas said, “If you’re young, start five minutes ago and do as much as you can to get yourself prepared. Take an acting class or a dance class. Get involved and experience life. Travel. Do different things and try different hobbies. As an actor you’ll have so many things as possibilities to do as a job. Working at Blockbuster when I was younger helped me before I became an actor. I can’t complain about Blockbuster … it’s retail. I’m sure you’ve heard Ashley [Tisdale] say she worked in retail too. I’m glad, though, that my first job was at a restaurant so every time I go to one I know how to treat the server and respect everyone who works there because I know what it’s like. I know every time I walk into a retail store that I’m not going to mess stuff up on the shelves because that was my biggest pet peeve. Things like that are what make you a better person. So I’m glad that I got to work at that kind of job for a long time. It builds character.”

Who is your favorite HSM character? And if you could meet Lucas right now, what would you say?