Look out for more coverage of
High School Musical 3: Senior Year in our magazines

THE MOVIE: High School Musical 3: Senior Year

THE STARS:
Zac Efron • Vanessa Hudgens • Ashley Tisdale • Lucas Grabeel • Corbin Bleu • Monique Coleman • Olesya Rulin • Jemma McKenzie-Brown
DIRECTOR: Kenny Ortega

THE CONCEPT:
The last in the popular franchise, and the first to be a motion picture. Amidst a basketball championship, the prom and a big spring musical, Troy (Efron) and Gabriella (Hudgens) vow to make every moment last as they apply to colleges, knowing that the future puts their relationship in question…

U.S. RELEASE: October 24 2008, Nationwide • Rated: G

THE COMMENTS:

KENNY ORTEGA:
“We did our best to do each film full-out. Zac says we didn’t leave anything on the dance floor but a pile of sweat. We never came into these movies thinking we were just making a little movie for television. We raised the bar on ourselves, we challenged ourselves every day, we set out to do something special, that would have lasting power. Little did I ever imagine that High School Musical would be a full-length motion picture; moving into High School Musical 3 was like a dream fulfilled.”

ZAC EFRON:
“When we were filming High School Musical 3 we took every opportunity to revel in the scenes and dances, because we knew this would be the last time we were all together in this capacity, so we were soaking it up. It’s been a very safe, creative place for us to work in the last three years, and it’s going to be pretty hard to leave that behind.”

VANESSA HUDGENS on representing Latinas in the film:
“That’s actually one thing that drew me to the project. It wasn’t the stereotypical leading lady; the fact that she is Hispanic, Gabriella Montez, was something that I found really interesting, and I’m very proud to be a part of it. Whenever I get the chance to go to Mexico, I try my hardest to speak Spanish to connect with everybody, but it’s really an honor.”

ASHLEY TISDALE (Sharpay):
“For me, my real-life senior year was completely opposite of Sharpay’s. She’s thinking about a Julliard scholarship the entire senior year, because it’s a step towards Broadway for her, whereas I was already acting in my high school.”

CORBIN BLEU (Chad):
“Kenny, from the first film, was always very open to ideas from the whole cast and always accepted our input. I know that everybody had a hand in their characters. What was great about this third film was that we had longer time [to work on it], so we really sat down and discussed characters and relationships with each character, and you saw the background with all these different personalities throughout the movie. We got a chance to expand and get more in depth on this film.”

MONIQUE COLEMAN (Taylor):
“We’re the ones that get the attention from this movie primarily, and that’s not necessarily where all the attention is due. It’s an ensemble; it’s the writer, producers, everyone involved. Kenny is the cornerstone for us. He obviously made all our dreams come true. We’re inspiring kids, but then kids get to turn around and inspire us back. There’s nothing more exciting than for some child to come up to you and say, ‘I wear glasses too,’ just the little things that we don’t even realize that kids connect to.”

JEMMA McKENZIE-BROWN (Tiara):
“I go to drama school [in England] and most of the girls at my school auditioned for the movie. It was quite competitive. I had a first audition, and then I got a call back from Kenny who came over from America, and he had me doing the coolest thing – I didn’t know how to dance, and he put some music on and told me to improvise. Then I went to L.A. and met [the cast]. I’d never been to America before my audition. The whole thing was just so surreal, and I don’t think any of us can believe it’s happening right now.”

HUDGENS:
“Zac and I had to learn [ballroom dancing for the movie]. It was the most difficult dance that I’ve had to do throughout the three movies, just because it’s so different. I’ve taken tap, jazz and hip-hop, but nothing could have prepared me for doing the waltz; the lifts we do, the turns we do, it was a lot. It was so classy and so sweet and romantic that it actually turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the movie and I’m really proud it came out so well.”

TISDALE:
“This project is something I’ll always hold close to my heart. We have so much fun and we’ve created such an amazing family. I had the best time on and off the screen with this cast. The last day of filming was an emotional fest.”

COLEMAN:
“I was a mess. I ruined my costume and I had to go back to the trailer and clean my face up.”

BLEU:
“The final scene [in the movie] was actually the final scene we shot, which is very rare, the final scene of the film being the curtain closing on these characters, on their lives at high school. We were all up on stage and reminiscing about these past three years. This was the same stage where we shot Breaking Free and other musical numbers. This was the same stage where we experienced so many creative break-throughs with each other.”

ORTEGA:
“They were all crying. It was this stage that so many wonderful things happened on for us, and where it all started for us. And suddenly the curtain was literally closing on them and it was overwhelming. The entire cast started to crumble, and we had to stop shooting.”

EFRON:
“We were standing on the stage watching the curtain close, and this was where everything began for us. It was symbolic of our journey. We’d come a long way as individuals.”

Written by Judy Sloane. Back to top

Visit the official High School Musical 3: Senior Year site
Images above © Walt Disney Pictures
Feature © 2008 Visual Imagination.
Not for reproduction.

Keep up with the latest movie news, reviews and features with every issue of Film Review and the Film Review Ultimate Special

VI DIRECT
Stores Info

You can order any of our magazines via this
secure service.

To SUBSCRIBE to
FILM REVIEW, use these
links to our stores: