Photo: Anne Marie Fox/disney
ForCorbin Bleu, it’s once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.
Nearly 14 years after the finalHigh School Musicalfilm premiered, the actor is returning to the iconic franchise forthe third seasonof Disney+‘sHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Series— only this time, he’s not playing Chad Danforth, he’s playing himself.
Bleu, 33, opens up about his guest appearance in season 3 and working witha whole new set of talented Disney stars, includingOlivia Rodrigo,Joshua Bassett,Sofia Wylieand Matt Cornett.
Though the upcoming season doesn’t take place atthe iconic East Highas the students head off to summer camp, Bleu admits that appearing on the show still felt like coming home “in many ways.”
“I really went on an emotional roller coaster,” he says. “When this season was coming to an end, I had a moment where I was just watching all of them perform, and it just hit me. It hit me like a ton of bricks where I’m seeing the impact that the original movies had. The fact that it even paved the way for this to take place, and the fact that they’re carrying the torch in such a beautiful way — and then the fact that I got to be a part of it again, that I got to actually live in the joy and the magic that isHigh School Musicalagain, I wasn’t expecting it.”
Zac Efron (left) as Troy and Corbin Bleu as Chad inHigh School Musical.Fred Hayes/Disney Channel
This season, Bleu plays a heightened version of himself as he appears as a celebrity guest at Camp Shallow Lake, where the East High students have been selected to put on one of the first performances ofFrozen.
Bleu reveals that he had many discussions with creatorTim Federleabout what a possible cameo on the show might look like, and he really loves the heightened ‘Corbin’ they came up with as it gives his character “a beautiful arc that does have some sense of realism.”
“Onscreen Corbin is definitely not me,” he affirms. “He’s so much more jaded and full of himself and kind of an ass. But what’s really wonderful about him is his realization of what theater and performance and these kids mean to him, and what it all did mean to him back then.”
That aspect, in particular, does mirror real life as he notes how after the original franchise came to an end,he and hisHSMcostarstried to “appreciate where you came from, but at the same time, try to distance where you’re going.”
He adds, “I want people to see me in a different light. I don’t want to be pigeonholed in this certain character. You grow. And in order to do that, sometimes, you have to pull away. But enough time has passed that I can now visualize it not as something that’s dragging me or holding onto me, but as its own separate entity that I know that I came from. And I appreciate it so much.”
Season 3 is especially nostalgic as formerHannah MontanastarJason Earles, with whom Bleu worked on the pilot for the Disney Channel series, also makes a guest appearance.
“I did the pilot episode ofHannah Montanaprior to doingHigh School Musical, so I knew Jason before I knew any of myHigh School Musicalcast,” says Bleu. “It was just like seeing a long-lost brother. We had so much fun together being able to poke at what the old Disney days were for us too. Especially the fact that I’m playing myself and he’s not playing himself. That actually added another funny kind of tongue-in-cheek layer of me being able to talk about Jason Earles, the actor, when he’s standing right there but he’s not actually playing Jason Earles.”
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Of course,HSMTMTScouldn’t have Bleu on the series without letting him perform. As previouslyteased in the trailer, Bleu confirms he shares a special musical number with Wylie, 18, in the third season — a scene he “pushed” particularly hard for.
Since starring intheHSMfranchise, Bleu has gone on to have quite a musical theater career, starring in the Broadway productions ofIn the Heights,Godspell,Holiday Inn, the New Irving Berlin Musicaland, most recently,Kiss Me, Kate.
While he always had a passion for theater growing up, he notes that his role inHSMonly “solidified” it. “I just knew that this is my path, this is what I want to do, this is what I love doing,” he says. In fact, his role in theHSMfranchise actually helped him get his first Broadway role.
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty
While Bleu admits he doesn’t regularly revisit theHSMfranchise, he did go back and watch a handful of the musical numbers after working onHSMTMTS. “My love for it all was reinvigorated,” he says, adding that the films felt very “retro” and “nostalgic” looking back now. “It’s a different era but it was upheld so well.”
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High School Musical: The Musical: The Seriespremieres Wednesday on Disney+.
source: people.com
