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High School Musical changed everything.

The success of the 2006 television film took Disney Channel by surprise. Not only was the movie a ratings success, but the soundtrack topped numerous musical charts, propelling the cast to superstardom. It turns out that Disney didn’t do much to prepare the cast for the spotlight.

Speaking to a crowd at Fan Expo Chicago, High School Musical cast members Corbin Bleu and Lucas Grabeel reminisced about the early days following the film’s success. “I was 15 when we shot the first High School Musical film, so at that age to have that microscope on you, and also in the frame of Disney, there’s a pressure to be a role model. While I always was generally a good kid, there was still a lot of anxiety and pressure that came along with that,” Bleu said.

“I lived in a moldy apartment that I could barely pay for the rent after High School Musical came out, and then it’s like I get a call, and someone’s like, ‘You’re like number one on iTunes.’ And next week we’re in New York on Time Square doing all this stuff, and someone’s like, ‘So, what does it feel like to be a role model for all children in the United States in the world.’ And I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, what? I’m a role model? I just did a job,’’ Grabeel added.

 “There’s no handbook for that, to be sort of thrust into this situation. We were actually kids. We were teenagers and it was a formative time,” Bleu said. “No one was prepared for it, so we didn’t get a class on how to act and speak and interact with the sudden attention. But thanks to us, Disney now gives classes to all the actors of their future projects,” Grabeel revealed.

“I did a TV show several years after for ABC Family, Switched at Birth, and they were like, ‘Okay, so, you have to go to this class at the Disney Channel building that’s about how to do press and stuff.’ And I was like, ‘Really. Where was this?’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s after High School Musical came out.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, do you remember?’ But that was great,” Grabeel shared.

The next time you see one of Disney’s child actors participate in a press junket, know that they probably went to the training program. In other words, you could thank the High School Musical kids.

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