A look at the flawless transformations of the stunning High School Musical cast

I actually cannot believe that the first High School Musical film came out 17 years ago! Since then the cast has been up to a lot, from getting married and having children to winning awards for their own shows. Let’s look at the flawless transformations from the High School Musical cast.

Troy – Zac Efron

When High School Musical first released it was Zac Efron’s breakout role, cementing him as both a singing icon and certified heartthrob. Before playing Troy, Zac had only played small roles on CSI: Miami and Guardian.

Since leaving High School Musical Zac has starred in plenty of movies such as Hairspray, The Greatest Showman, Baywatch and Extreme, Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile in which he played Ted Bundy.

In 2021 Zac won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Daytime Programme Host for his Netflix travel docuseries Down to Earth with Zac Efron. Zac has unsurprisingly aged like fine wine and his transformation from being on the cast of High School Musical is just a chef’s kiss.

Gabriella – Vanessa Hudgens

Vanessa Hudgens played Gabriella in High School Musical, and like the rest of the cast has had a flawless transformation. After she finished High School Musical Vanessa released two albums in 2006 and 2008 and performed on Broadway in the 2015 revival production of Gigi.

Vanessa fully embraced the cheesy Christmas movie persona appearing in the iconic Princess Switch franchise and The Knight Before Christmas as well as Tick, Tick… Boom alongside Andrew Garfield.

Vanessa dated Zac Efron from 2006 to 2010, and then fellow actor Austin Butler from 2011 to 2020. She has been dating MLB player Cole Tucker since 2020 and the two got engaged in February.

Sharpay – Ashley Tisdale

Ashley Tisdale played Sharpay Evans, but she was no stranger to acting as she appeared in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody prior to starring in High School Musical.

After High School Musical she continued to appear on Suite Life until 2008 and then did voice acting in Phineas and Ferb from 2007 to 2015. She soon returned to her Sharpay roots in a spin-off movie Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure in 2011.

Sharpay has released three albums and launched her own beauty brand called Illuminate Cosmetics. In 2014 she married musician Christopher French and they welcomed their baby Jupiter Iris in March 2021.

Chad – Corbin Bleu

Whilst Chad didn’t approve of Troy’s theatrical goals, Corbin went on to star in a number of Broadway productions including In the Heights, Godspell, Holiday Inn and Kiss Me, Kate.

Corbin appeared in Dancing with the Stars in 2013 and placed second on the show, all those dancing moves paid off! In 2022 Corbin returned to High School Musical in the Disney Plus series in a special appearance episode.

He discussed how surprisingly emotional the experience was for him, “I did not expect the reaction that I had when walking back into East High,” he said. “Even when I first saw it, just driving up, I took my breath away and I was like, ‘Whoa. This is doing something to me. Why?’

“It wasn’t until showing up there that all of these emotions came up,” he continued. “When I walked into the gym, that was actually when I started crying. I had so many life-changing special experiences in that room where we shot ‘Get’cha Head in the Game,’ where we shot ‘We’re All in This Together,’ where we had so many emotional, important scenes, and crazy moments.

“It wasn’t until going back and just seeing it again going, ‘I can’t believe this.’ It really was gratitude.”

Ryan – Lucas Grabeel

Lucas played the iconic Ryan in High School Musical and since the movie series ended has voiced characters on Family Guy, Pinky Malinky and Elena of Avalor.

He also appeared in the new High School Musical series where Ryan’s sexuality was confirmed as the character was seen kissing another man.

Taylor – Monique Coleman

Monique also took part in Dancing with the Stars in 2006 and came fourth place in the competition. In 2010 she was named the United Nations’s first-ever Youth Champion and founded Gimme Mo. Gimme Mo seeks to “empower youth to make changes in the world.”

She and Corbin reunited in 2021 when they both starred in A Christmas Dance Reunion together. Monique also made a guest appearance in season four of High School Musical.

Coach Bolton – Bart Johnson

Bart Johnson played Coach Bolton, and honestly, this man has not aged a day since the movie came out. Since then he still regularly appears in the High School Musical series as Coach Bolton, and enjoys going on boujee looking holidays with his family!

Kelsi – Olesya Rulin

Oleysa who played the shy pianist Kelsi, had a major post High School Musical glow-up. She continued to act on series like The Mentalist, and CSI: Miami, as well as having a recurring role on the show Greek and starred on PlayStation Network’s Powers.

In 2022, Oleysa and her husband Joseph Noel Pauline welcomed their first baby together, daughter Ondine Michelle Pauline.

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Related stories recommended by this writer:

• The biggest transformations in the High School Musical series cast from season one to four

• QUIZ: Every High School Musical song is a banger, but do you remember the lyrics?

• Troy Bolton will only marry you if you get 22/26 on this bumper High School Musical quiz

Featured image credit via Disney+.