The fourth and final season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is finally here, and so is High School Musical 4! Well, kind of. HSMTMTS stars Dara Reneé, Frankie Rodriguez and Julia Lester sat down with J-14 exclusively to talk about working with the legacy cast members of the Disney Channel classic franchise, and so much more.
Keep reading to see our exclusive interview with the stars of HSMTMTS season 4!
‘HSMTMTS’ Cast on Working With Original ‘HSM’ Stars
ICYMI, HSMTMTS season 4, which premiered on August 9, 2023, includes a very meta High School Musical 4! When the East High students return for their first day back in season 4, they also learn that the school is being used to film the long-awaited High School Musical 4: The Reunion movie, and they’ll all be playing featured extras.
Some OG High School Musical cameos in season 4 include Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Lucas Grabeel, Kaycee Stroh, Bart Johnson and Alyson Reed.
“Seeing all of the people that I looked up to, on screen and now being able to act with them was crazy,” Dara, who plays Kourtney in HSMTMTS, said of working with the OG High School Musical cast, adding that sharing the screen with Monique “was absolutely epic.”
“I must say Monique Coleman has always given me such amazing advice,” Dara continued, revealing that she actually knew the OG HSM star prior to filming season 4. “It’s so funny, I knew her a bit before High School Musical and I texted her and I was like, ‘Hey Queen, I’m someone like Taylor.’ And she gave me her blessing and taught me so much and showed me so much. So shout out to Monique because she really is a great role model for any girl to have.”
As for Julia, who plays Ashlyn on HSMTMTS, the actress gave a special shout out to Corbin, whom the cast also worked with in season 3, calling him “Broadway royalty,” and a “true musical theater performer.”
“It was just really cool to like get to really know him during season three and then have him come back for season four,” she gushed. “He’s a great friend and sort of mentor for all of us and he’s been such a cheerleader for our show since day one. So it was really special that he got to continue his role as himself in season four and come back, even after that Rocky documentary came out. I think he redeemed himself.”
We do too!
As for Frankie, he’s a huge fan of Alyson Reed, a.k.a. Miss Darbus herself.
“Just being in a scene with her while she’s looking you in the eye, it like gives me chills because I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, that is Miss Darvis.’ So for me it was her because she just shared so many wonderful stories about her experience there and then her experience on Broadway and just her career in general.”
Love J-14? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for fun, exclusive videos with your favorite stars.
