It’s been years since the very first High School Musical movie premiered in 2006 but that doesn’t mean that people don’t still absolutely love and cherish the first movie as well as its sequels. The entire franchise is filled to the brim with amazing songs, the best actors ever, and some super adorable G-rated plot lines.
The franchise even inspired a TV series to be filmed and released in 2019. A lot of interesting drama went down on the set of the original High School Musical movie behind the scenes. Here’s what we know.
10 Ryan Evans Was Meant To Be A Gay Character
Things are starting to look up for the LGBTQ community in terms of representation in movies and TV shows. Collectively, organizations and companies are realizing how much better it is to be inclusive. Kenny Ortega explained, "We decided [Ryan was] probably going to come out in college. It was less about coming out and just more about letting his true colors come forward.” (Teen Vogue.) In the first HSM movie, they left his sexuality open for interpretation.
9 Potato Flakes Were Used As Snowflakes During ‘Start Of Something New’
Everyone remembers the very first song performed by Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron in their character roles of Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton. They hit the stage for karaoke night before their school year but again and sing a song together for the very first time. This is the moment when they developed feelings for each other for the very first time. When the snowflakes began to fall no one really thought twice... but what was used to create that snowflake effect? Potato flakes!
8 Ashley Tisdale Might Have Played Gabriella Instead Of Vanessa Hudgens
Ashley Tisdale auditioned for the role of Gabriella Montez. Obviously, as we know, Vanessa Hudgens killed the game in the role of Gabriella Montez while Ashley Tisdale killed the game in the role of Sharpay Evans. Ashley Tisdale totally nailed her audition but it was abundantly clear which actress should play the innocent sweetheart and which actress could pull off a sharp-witted attitude.
7 The Entire (Amazing) Soundtrack Was Recorded In 5 Days
The soundtrack for the first High School Musical movie is filled with bop after bop. Every single song is catchy and memorable. It is beyond impressive and incredible that they were able to record all of the songs for the soundtrack in five days. It’s actually quite groundbreaking. From Troy Bolton‘s “Getcha Head in the Game“ to “Breaking Free“ by Gabriella and Troy together, the songs that they recorded will always be remembered.
6 The Late Naya Rivera Might Have Played Gabriella Instead Of Vanessa Hudgens
The sad and tragic story of Naya Rivera’s passing made headlines in 2020 when she drowned during a boat trip with her son. Rewinding back to 2006, she actually auditioned for the role of Gabriella Montez. It would’ve been a great match for her seeing as she ended up landing a musical/high school TV series just a few years later in 2009. Glee. There is a reason why HSM and Glee are constantly compared.
5 HSM Was Filmed In 24 Days
It was record-breaking as it is knowing that the soundtrack for the first movie was recorded in five days, it is also really intense and insane to find out that the movie was filmed in 24 days! It only took them 24 days to completely capture all of the footage is necessary to bring the movie to life.
Obviously, the cast of the movie had to go through training, rehearsals, and the audition process prior to those 24 days so ultimately the process was a lot longer than that. 24 days with the cameras rolling is still really fast.
4 Matthew Underwood Might Have Played Troy Bolton Instead Of Zac Efron
Matthew Underwood, an actor that you might recognize from his time in Zoey 101 on Nickelodeon, auditioned for the role of Troy Bolton but couldn't move forward because of scheduling conflicts. We know now that the role ended up going to Zac Efron who did perfectly. Another young actor who auditioned for the role of Troy Bolton? Sterling Knight. Honestly, we can’t picture it any other way. Zac Efron was a perfect choice.
3 They Were Almost The Leopards Instead Of The Wildcats
The teenagers of High School Musical had a lot of pride and school spirit. They were proud to be students at their school down to the core! That’s why we can easily remember them chanting their school mascot all the time… They were the Wildcats.
Who could’ve ever guessed that they were supposed to be the leopards instead of the Wildcats? It’s a good thing they decided to change the mascot name because Wildcats was able to mesh into their song lyrics easily.
2 Ms. Darbus & Coach Bolton Could Have Had A Duet
Ms. Darbus and Coach Bolton might’ve been rivals of some sort but there was supposed to be a duet for them at some point in the movie! It would’ve been great if they were able to follow through with that and record a song. It most likely would’ve been about her desire to keep the high school students focused on theater and his desire to keep the students focused on basketball. Their conflicting views would’ve made for a very comedic song.
1 Ashley Tisdale & Lucas Grabeel Feuded On Set Of The First Movie
Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel played the roles of twin siblings who vibed really well together onstage for performances. In real life, they did not get along too well on the set of the first movie. Lucas revealed that Ashley gave him unsolicited stage directions and performing advice in a way that came across as bossy-- similar to Sharpay Evans. He wasn't enticed by that. They ended up becoming cool with each other since then.