Drew Seeley is pulling back the curtain on his unique role in the High School Musical phenomenon, sharing some candid reflections about his time on the movie’s iconic 2006-2007 concert tour.
If you missed it, Drew stepped in to play Troy Bolton on the road while Zac Efron, the original Troy, was busy filming Hairspray. Drew had also provided Troy’s singing voice in the first movie, as Zac’s vocals weren’t used for the tracks at the time.
On the Magical Rewind podcast, Drew opened up about touring with the cast and why he suspects Vanessa Hudgens, who played Gabriella Montez, wasn’t thrilled with his presence.
“I hit it off with them,” Drew shared about the rest of the cast. “They were so lovely.”
However, he noted that things felt a bit different with Vanessa. “I do think Vanessa resented it a little bit when I was on tour because she was like, ‘I wanna sing to my boyfriend every night, not this guy,’” Drew revealed.
At the time, Vanessa and Zac had started dating after meeting on the set of the first movie. The two became a beloved Disney couple and stayed together for several years before parting ways in 2010.
During the podcast, Drew also shed light on how he ended up recording Troy’s songs for the first High School Musical before filming began.
“I was never told why they did it the way that they did it,” Drew admitted. “But I think they were within about three, four weeks of shooting the actual film, and they had me and not Zac.”
Drew recalled heading into the studio with the rest of the cast to record all of the songs over a four-day stretch. “Me and the rest of the movie cast all go into the studio for, like, four days straight and record all the songs together. So, yeah, I knew that I was doing that,” he explained.
Of course, Zac eventually stepped into his musical spotlight, performing all of Troy’s vocals for the next two movies in the trilogy.
Looking back, Drew’s contribution to High School Musical remains an integral part of its early success, even if it came with its fair share of behind-the-scenes drama.
