During Fan Expo Chicago, Lucas Grabeel spoke about starring as Ryan Evans in the High School Musical trilogy and what the character means to him.

Grabeel starred in the High School Musical trilogy alongside Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman. Both Grabeel and Tisdale starred in the spin-off movie, Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure.

It’s so nice to meet you. How are you enjoying your weekend in Chicago?
Lucas Grabeel: I’m having a great time. This is the biggest convention that I’ve ever been to and it’s just meeting so many great people, having a good time, sharing, swapping stories and yeah, just surrounded by so much joy and love. It’s great.

How special was it to be a part of High School Musical and did you know at the time that there was going to be three movies and then eventually once this whole streaming thing exploded, a spin-off series?
Lucas Grabeel: No way. I mean, yeah, I thought it would definitely be a one-and-done situation. I mean it’s changed my life in so many different ways and it continues to change my life because sometimes as an actor you kind of feel, okay, stand here, say your line, move on. Make someone laugh, make someone cry, whatever. That it’s kind without a lot of meaning. But when I’m here and meeting people year after year after year, just like all of this time has passed. Yesterday was the 17th anniversary of High School Musical 2, and I’m still getting people coming up to me talking about how it helps them in their lives today just as much as it did back then. It’s so special and warms my heart and just makes me feel like, okay, I may not be a doctor saving lives on an operating table, but bringing someone a smile is good enough for me right now. This is amazing.

Can you talk about playing Ryan and what it means to how inspirational the character is and not a caricature?
Lucas Grabeel: Well, it was important to us when we were talking about the character before we had shot the first movie that it wasn’t something that was just an over-the-top kind of movie caricature, like you said, a representation of someone, but to kind of be something relatable that a lot of people could see. We worked really hard to craft little moments—on and off the page—that would kind of give everyone from all walks of life a place to see themselves in Ryan. For me, Ryan just encapsulated so much of my high school experience. I was a thespian. I was always trying to do all of the musicals and be as good as I could be, but I also was, just like every other teenager, trying to figure out who they were and what life was about and all of that stuff. It’s definitely one of my favorite—if not my favorite—characters I’ve ever played because of all of that, and because of the input that I got to put into it, really just made it feel that much more my own. To create a character that I’ve seen so many other people play on stage, dress up for Halloween, and dress up for conventions and on the street and everything, it’s just—I never thought that this would be my life, and I’m a lucky man. It’s pretty amazing.

Thank you so much. It was so nice to meet you.
Lucas Grabeel: So nice to meet you.

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