Lucas Grabeel Interview

Jay Tenem’s Exclusive interview with High School Musicals Lucas Grabeel.

I met with Lucas numerous times while I was in California. This was my interview with him when I hung out with him at a café in Los Angeles.

1. How and at what age did you start acting?
Officially I started acting when I was 12 years old the show thing I ever did was a musical called secret garden it was in a high school at the same school district that I was going to. I was obviously in 6th grade and yeah once I got on stage and saw the audience I said this is what I want to do for the rest of my life so I just ended up from then on doing everything that I could to get there.

2. Was High School Musical your first acting role on T.V.?
No I came out here 3 years ago in 2003 I was extremely fortunate to start working very soon doing some national commercials to start out and my first film was Halloween town 3 for The Disney Channel. I also shot that in Salt Lake as well as High School Musical so I have a nice little family down there now.(Laughs) And a few other little things like a couple T.V. shots but obviously High School Musical is the biggest thing.

3. Have you ever attended an acting school of some sort?
No I actually never took a drama class in high school because I didn’t want to. I was in all of the High school musicals and all that stuff but choir was more of my thing in high school. I was much more involved with them more than the drama because it was a better department there.

4. High School Musical has gotten so big there making High School Musical: The Musical how do you feel about that?
Haha yeah it’s pretty crazy and weird because my drama teacher called my mom and told her that that my High School is going to put on High School Musical this year and I talked to my old directors at the two community theaters I went to and there both doing it. So three different theaters in my home town are doing it in 150 thousand and there are people all over Missouri saying that there going to do it.

5. Are you going to go back and help them or give them some direction?
I doubt it because honestly I don’t think they should do it and I don’t have anything against my high school and I also love the community theaters I was a part of so supporting them yeah ive already gone back a few times and taught a couple classes for the theater and did some fundraisers for the performing troop there.

6. What was a typical day like for you while you were working on High School Musical?
When we started out we were in rehearsal so I would get up, roll out of bed, stretch and play with Kenny Ortega and the choreographers and just have fun all day working really hard ive 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 as well. Once we start filming we wake up in the morning the driver would take me to the set from the Hotel and we would shoot and a lot of waiting around time and also learn more about each other and have fun. And afterwards we would go back to the hotel room I would soak my whole body in the bath because I was so soar and then just chill for the rest of the night.

7. What’s a typical day while not working on High School Musical?
It’s very weird because my life is either really busy or extremely not so on the days when I don’t have anything I will wake up late, check my email, listen to music all day long. If im not listening to music im playing it, maybe drawing or painting and stuff like that mainly hanging out at my apartment.

8. Do you have anyway for your fans to contact you online, Like Myspace?
No Myspace I do have a website its something that my friends and I made together as a joke. And then it ended up being a big deal and now there are tons of people on it.

9. Do you look at blogs on say IMDB?
I did and that was the main reason I started the website and the forum on the site and that has you know like 600 users or something like that every time I go back and check it I have like 1,162 in you inbox so its hard to check them all.

10. Has your family always been supportive in your acting?
Yes extremely so my mom is an entertainer at heart even know she didn’t go into it professionally she’s always been that kind of person with that personality. But yeah ive been very fortunate to have a whole city supporting me. Everyone was always there wanting to help out. I actually had a benefit show for myself for moving out to LA(Laughs). Everyone showed up and it was great.

11. So you did film in an actual school?
Yeah we filmed in East High and Murray High.
So I was Really East High
Yes it was we changed the décor they had the same school colors and they were east high but they weren’t the wildcats they were the cougars or something but the wildcat on the gym floor is actually there cat but its another cat but not wildcat.

12. How do you feel watching yourself on TV?
I don’t I hate it.
I know a lot of people who do that but is it to the point in a premier where you will turn away when you come on screen.
No I don’t know for me the craft of the art of how ever you may define I acting is the job and the process and the working on set. No one else but me and people on set get to see that. And its sad because that’s what the most important part for me. And all this other stuff afterwards comes with it sometimes but after High School Musical I didn’t care if it turned out to be the worst movie in the world. I had an amazing experience shooting it and afterwards its like if I put it on im like oh ok this is it but it’s the memories and the experiences. So I don’t care how it turns to some extent but I just don’t like hearing myself and watching myself and I obviously am my worst critic(Laughs).
13. At the school were there kids lineing up at the gate waiting to see what was happening?
No it was just a movie being filmed all they knew is that is was for the Disney Channel and even us were were just filming another Disney Channel Original Movie which is great. And we were having an awesome time but we never though that anything like this would happen it was all by surprise.

14. High School Musical 2 is it going to be summer at Ryan and Sharpays country club?
Yeah I haven’t got the script but ive heard 10 million different things from all the Disney executives who are giving me secrets that im not supposed to say but I don’t believe any of it. There actually rewriting it right now. They in the process right now so they wrote the rough draft and now there fine tuning it and honestly High School Musical I still have the first script I was given and its literally night and day to what it turned out to be in the movie it was really nothing like it. Who knows we really have no idea about what its going to happen other that what you asked me. So its summer we are at Ryan and Sharpays country club and everybody’s back and something’s going to happen.

15. Do you think at the end of High School Musical that you guys were left as friends?
Yeah to some extent I think theres the indignity of everything ok or we will have a sequel when they wrote it and when we were making it we had no idea there was going to be a sequel. I mean people were talking about it and I was like no way that’s not going to happen that’s the last thing that’s going to happen. The last day of shooting we were doing Were All In This Together and I was like this is the last time im going to do this dance and sing this song. Little did I know I would be doing it 100 thousand times more. (Laughs)

16. What type of training did you do for Ryan?
I just thought a lot about my high school experience and Ryan is a spawn of every horrible theatre person I have ever met back home. I thought of different movies and put those characters together to make Ryan?

17. What cast member are you the closet with?
As for as hitting it off it was Monique Coleman I think one of the reasons was because we were the two oldest and its not like everyone else is much younger than we are its just im an old soul and ive always grown up with people who are older than me so I act like an old man all the time and the funny thing is I hear that from my friends (Laughs) Yeah but Monique’s just a really cool girl. And Chucky who was one of the Choreographers and he also had a small role he was on the basketball team. He is 25 but he’s just like a little kid inside so we had a lot of fun just hanging out.

18. What advice would you give to actors and actresses who haven’t made it big yet?
If your young start five minutes ago and do as much as you can to get yourself prepared and ready take an acting class or a dancing class take anything to get involved and experience life, travel do different things as much as you can always change your hobbies because being an actor you have so many things as possibilities to do as a job. Even before you start like working at blockbuster like I did the things I did when I was younger helped me work at blockbuster and not hate it and not kill myself before I became an actor. I cant complain about blockbuster its retail im sure You’ve herd from Ashley(Tisdale) she worked in retail also im glad though that my first job was at a restaurant so every time I go to a restaurant I know how to treat the waiter and I know how to respect everyone who works there because I know how horrible it is to work there. I worked in retail and I know every time I walk into a retail store that im not going to mess stuff up on the shelves because that was my biggest pet peeve because people did that all the time and things like that are the things that make you a better person. So im glad that I got to work at a crappy job for a long time because im a better person for it, and it builds character.

19. How do you feel being in the spot light all the time now?
I don’t like it. Here is the thing I try to make to most of it and all situations that im dealt because my number one goal in my life above career, family and spirituality/religion whatever you call it is happiness and that’s all I want. Im thrown in a situation where I am in the spotlight im going to make it good and im going to make myself happy out of it. That’s fine and dandy but im different in the fact that I don’t look for things like that. I don’t walk around malls looking to get recognized. Its just not important to me whats important to me is my art and my happiness and my family and my friends, those things that aren’t tangible I don’t need free stuff given to me I don’t need big cars or expensive houses, any of those thing none of it matters to me. I want to do my art I want to be an actor and I want to have people around me who support me. So it’s something that you have to deal with and it comes with the job of being an actor in Hollywood or where ever. Its dealing with people talking your picture and people asking you stupid questions but that’s part of it so you got to make the most of it and try to have fun.

20. Did you have fun last night at the Teen Choice Awards?
The honest truth I hate the Red Carpet everyone thinks if I could just walk down that red carpet its so glamorous and so beautiful. But you were there with me we hung out and we could barely hear each other it was hectic people are yelling and people are mad for some reason(Laughs) everyone is pushing and shoving except for the one or two people who are so important they get there own place and they get there picture taken and that’s just not me you know we have spent two days together so far I am a real person I want to do real thing with real people and have a good time and I don’t need cameras flashing.

21. Do you think that your background had any influence on the?
Oh absolutely
Do you think it would be different if you were in the spotlight since you were five?
Oh yeah
I think because of your background you were very nice to everyone yesterday and you did stop for everyone so I think that most people who were brought up around the Hollywood life aren’t like that.
Its nice to do but when it is part of the job you have to do it and put on a smiley face shake hands and do your little 2 minute interviews and that’s great but last night was a perfect example of a bad situation and you try to make some good out of it there were screaming girls all around me I couldn’t hear a word that anyone was saying onstage and I was just kind of like ahhhhhh no I would never choose to do it but I had fun because im hanging out with cool people like you, Zac, Ashley, Vanessa and the rest of the guys but I made the best of it by seeing some live performances and being there.
22. Do you have a favorite Movie?
Nope
23. Do you have a favorite T.V. Show?
I don’t watch a lot of T.V. but I rent episodes but my favorite drama of all time would be Six Feet Under. There is a new show it’s always sunny in Philadelphia which is really great.
24.What was the hardest thing for you to do in High School Musical?
You Know for me my character was a kick back of a lot of different characters that I combined. The hardest thing was leaning to what character I wanted to mold Ryan to simply because im new to the business and im trying to get comfortable with everything but that’s what it was making sure that I have going on in my head was what was going on screen
25. Do you think because you are so down to earth it will be harder for you because of all the fakes and phonies?
No because ive learned a lot in the last three years about how to deal with people and business and the whole industry its basically like a roller coaster that goes up and down but as long as I stay laid back and chill but there does come a point when you have to be mean and to the things that you don’t want to do but you go in with a smile and its over before you know it. Also my goal or dream right now is to slip under the radar and to do independent films that are cool and interesting and also different. Disney has been an amazing platform to start off with and they have been so good with me I cant complain but I also don’t want to be making kids movies for the rest of my life. I am so much older than I look so I want to push that along.

26. Was it hard your first time to memorize all your lines?
No ive been memorizing lines since I was 12 and I was doing theatre where you have to memorize 2 and a half hours of lines. Yeah when I first started memorizing lines it was hard but I was twelve at the time but the more you memorize the faster you become at doing it. Now I can memorize a ten page script in fifteen minutes I don’t know how it happens but after you look at the format of a script for memorization methods only you start picking it up.

27. Whats your reaction when people start coming up to you on the street?
Its always different but the first time I didn’t know if they were coming up to me I was like whats going on. People would turn and do that whole face and I was like what famous person is here, who are they looking at? Oh me (Laughs) but the fact that its kids makes it all the better. If a young person is going to come up to me and be excited and want a picture or a autograph and that’s important to them im more than happy to do it.



28. After filming a movie does it come out different than you would expect?
Oh yeah completely always High School Musical is a prime example we had so much footage of all those dance numbers. You never know which one they will pick. We spent two and a half days shooting stick to the status quo and two and a half days shooting were all in this together and there fourteen hour days everyday. I think we shot 8,000 feet of film before lunch one day and that’s like our limit for one day and we shot that before lunch it was insane because we had three cameras going on all the time and tons of people everywhere.

29. What was it like working with Kenny Ortega?
Kenny is very interesting. He is one of those brilliant artists whose minds are always moving to the normal person he would seem very scatter brained and crazy and that’s just because he has so much stuff going on in his head a few select things come out and it’s a dream to work with someone like that. We were so lucky to have someone like him to direct our little film and he turned it into what it became today.

30. And Finally Whats it like working with such a great cast and crew?
It’s a gift because ive worked on some bad sets and I have been fortunate to work on mostly good sets. Return to Halloweentown we just shot this past summer and also in Salt Lake City also for the Disney Channel so im 3 for 3 in both (Laughs). So going back there and knowing who you are and what your like and excepting you with open arms was great because you work so much quicker, better and your happier the whole time if your happy on the set you will make a good product and if your not its up in the air.

I just wanted to thank Lucas and Bob and the Rest of the High School Musical Cast for Making this possible.