With the High School Musical 10-year reunion giving us all the feels, let’s catch up with our favorite East High Wildcats and see what they are up to now.
Vanessa Hudgens (Gabriella Montez)
We first met Hudgens when she played Gabriella, a shy smarty who had never opened her heart to all the possibilities. After the smash success of the three High School Musical movies, Hudgens went on to play roles in Beastly and Spring Breakers and had success as a solo artist. She has also performed in Broadway shows and will be performing the role of Rizzo in the TV production of Grease: Live. Even though her 2010 split from Zac Efron broke our hearts, she and her boyfriend, Austin Butler, are #relationshipgoals.
Zac Efron (Troy Bolton)
Troy Bolton was every middle school girl’s dream boy: caring, athletic, AND he could sing! We all related (or not) to Troy’s conflicts about whether he should be a basketball star or be a singer. He also taught us it’s okay to break the status quo for the person you love. After graduating from East High, Efron went on to star in movies like 17 Again, Charlie St. Cloud, and Neighbors (and the upcoming Neighbors 2!!) However, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for this Wildcat, as he went to rehab in 2013 and got into an altercation with a homeless man in 2014. Despite it all, Troy Bolton was #14 on the court, but will always be #1 in our hearts.
Ashley Tisdale (Sharpay Evans)
While she was the “enemy” of East High, we couldn’t help but feel for Sharpay sometimes. She had a seriously envied early-2000s wardrobe, knew what she wanted, and did what she had to do to get it—something we still can’t always say about ourselves today. After HSM, Tisdale reprised the role of Sharpay in Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure along with roles in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, The Suite Life on Deck, and Phineas and Ferb. Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens have remained friends and Hudgens was a bridesmaid in Tisdale’s (beautiful) wedding to Christopher French.
Corbin Bleu (Chad Danforth)
As Troy’s right hand man, we also fell for Chad. While he initially despised Troy’s double life, he had a change of heart and accepted his friend as a singer (if only our drama in high school was this simple). He even proved he COULD dance in the second movie. Following the success of HSM, Bleu had a lead role in the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In! and was runner-up on season seventeen of Dancing with the Stars, where he once again proved that he could dance.
Lucas Grabeel (Ryan Evans)
As Sharpay’s brother, Ryan was used to living in his sister’s shadow. But that didn’t stop him from jazz squaring his way into our hearts, even if it meant standing up to his sister sometimes. His friendship with Chad proved to be the greatest change of heart in film history. He too reprised his role in Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure and went on to have a starring role in the ABC Family series, Switched at Birth.
Monique Coleman (Taylor McKessie)
Taylor was another brainiac who tried to prevent Gabriella from pursuing her theatre career. But like Chad, she eventually realized the status quo could be broken. Following their mutual respect towards the decisions of their friends, she and Chad even dated despite coming from different social circles. Coleman has had roles in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Bones. Like her onscreen boyfriend, she was also on Dancing with the Stars.
While it may have been 10 years since we first met these Wildcats, they’ll always hold a special place in our heart. And let’s be real, even 10 years later, we still and will always know the choreography to “We’re All in this Together.”