Lucas Grabeel Latest News, Photos, and Videos

Lucas Grabeel is opening up about his character Ryan’s sexuality in High School Musical.

During a new interview, the 35-year-old actor said he isn’t sure if he would play Ryan today, after director Kenny Ortega recently revealed that his character was gay.

“There’s so many amazingly talented gay actors that could do it as well, so if High School Musical was made today – I don’t know if I would play Ryan,” Lucas shared with TMZ. “I would love to, but the last thing I want to do is take an opportunity away from other people.”

Lucas continued: “As a straight white man, I know that even without trying, I have taken opportunities away from other people.”

Lucas went on to recall talking to Kenny about Ryan where Kenny said that he didn’t think Disney was “ready” to have an openly gay character.

‘I came up to Kenny one day and was like, ‘Hey, so can we talk about the character for a second? Ryan’s gay, right?’” Lucas recalled. “He was like, ‘Well, I mean, it’s a touchy subject sometimes with children’s programming – I’m not sure if Disney is ready now for that kind of thing. I absolutely agree that he is and I think we have an opportunity here to showcase a real person.’”

Lucas also shared that at the time the movie was released back in 2006, gay people weren’t represented with multi-faceted characters.

“[Coming out] is something that a lot of kids go through and don’t often see portrayed on television,” Lucas said. “At that time it was either [the gay characters were] extremely flamboyant or very closeted and kind of shut off.”

“We need to start educating everyone at the youngest age possible and that’s why it will fall into the hands of Disney who create so much great programming for the developing minds of our future country,” Lucas added. “We in the film industry have a duty to educate as well as entertain.”

Ryan Evans, the flamboyant High School Musical character played by Lucas Grabeel, has always been assumed to be gay, but never really confirmed.

His sexuality has always been a topic of conversation throughout the years, and director Kenny Ortega recently dished on when Ryan would have come out.

“The character of Ryan in High School Musical, Sharpay’s twin brother, we decided he’d probably going to come out in college. It was less about coming out and just more about letting his true colors come forward,” Kenny told Variety.

“I have to be honest with you. I didn’t think at the time — and Disney is the most progressive group of people I’ve ever worked with,” he continued. “I was concerned because it was family and kids, that Disney might not be ready to cross that line and move into that territory yet. So, I just took it upon myself to make choices that I felt that those who were watching would grab. They would see it, they would feel it, they would know it and they would identify with it. And that is what happened.”

“I have to say thousands of kids that have said, ‘If it weren’t for High School Musical, I don’t know that I would have ever been comfortable in my skin. I don’t know when I would have been able to feel comfortable enough to come out, embrace who I am,’” Kenny added.

Disney had eventually, years later, crossed that line when Andi Mack character Cyrus came out to his friends.

Zac Efron joined the High School Musical cast on the Disney Family Singalong on Thursday night (April 16), though he sadly didn’t sing with them.

The cast reunited to perform the smash hit song “We’re All in This Together” from their own homes. Zac is supposedly quarantined in the “middle of nowhere” with poor WiFi, but he sent in a grainy video that served as an introduction to the performance.

Director Kenny Ortega brought together Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Monique Coleman, and Corbin Bleu, as well as the casts of Descendants, Zombies, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and more, for a great performance.

“Hi everyone, I hope that you’re safe and that you’re healthy and that you’re doing as well as possible during these unprecedented times. It’s my greatest pleasure to introduce a musical performance by some of my oldest friends, and some new ones. I hope that you enjoy, and remember, we’re all in this together,” Zac said. He unfortunately didn’t sing with the cast, but you can watch the performance below!

There’s another Wildcats reunion happening and we can’t wait for it!

Kenny Ortega will reunite with High School Musical stars Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Lucas Grabeel and even Zac Efron for the upcoming Disney Family Singalong.

Kenny Ortega opened up to Deadline about the reunion, which follows their Zoom call that happened over the weekend.

“I wanted to find something I can do to participate and it was so great to be given the call and invited by ABC to join,” Kenny shared. “It gave me a purpose to get up every morning. I feel really good that we have an opportunity to do something like this — it’s good medicine.”

He added about Zac‘s participation, who will appear in a special video message: “We couldn’t reach Zac until late but when we did, he immediately jumped in, of course. Everyone we reached out to was quick — and you’ll see it in their spirit and the way they come together from their homes. They recognize this is an opportunity to strengthen spirits for those joining us for the broadcast.”

The Wildcats are expected to be performing their signature song, “We’re All In this Together” on the program.

The Disney Family Singalong is slated to air on Thursday, April 16 at 8/7c on ABC.

The cast of High School Musical just had a virtual reunion!

Stars Vanessa Hudgens, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Lucas Grabeel, Ashley Tisdale, director Kenny Ortega, and more all hopped on the video call from their separate homes while quarantined during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

“Guess who’s back…” Vanessa captioned the screenshot below on Instagram, while Monique added along with the same shot, “Together….together…..🎹😉.”

Noticeably missing was their co-star Zac Efron.

Check it out below!

ICYMI, the casts of Jessie, Victorious, and Every Witch Way also just had virtual reunions.

Click inside to see Monique’s post… More Here! »

Lucas Grabeel has made his return to the world of High School Musical on Disney+’s HSM: The Musical: The Series, and in a new interview with TVLine, opening up about the impact of Ryan Evans on the world.

“People have always asked me if Ryan was gay,” the now 35-year-old actor shared. “I’ve seen a lot of performances from the tours or high schools or community theaters, and they always take Ryan to that place of being way over the top. That’s fine, but that’s not exactly the way I played it.”

Lucas continues, “I had a lot of talks with [director Kenny Ortega] about his own experience in high school. He was not out, and he wasn’t running around being that way, but he had that energy inside of him. It’s such an important time in your life, and you’re figuring so many things out. Now, thankfully, people are much more accepting and welcoming of other people’s differences.”

Ryan, Lucas says, was still figuring things out in the original movies, like more teenagers are.

“Ryan was a guy who was really excited about theater and art and dance choreography and bright colors and hats,” he says. “But he also liked Kelsey, and he really liked [Zeke]. He didn’t need a label, because he wasn’t ready for that. He was still learning about himself and about people and where he fit into the world.”

“I didn’t mean for it to be a giant statement,” Lucas adds. “I actually wanted to be kind of subtle. I wanted to add nuance and little things that you might catch the second or third time you see the movies. I wanted people to think, ‘That character’s more complex than I thought,’ instead of saying, ‘Oh, he comes out in pink and you know he’s gay.’ That’s not what we had in mind. We had a lot of fun with putting in all those little nuances along the way.”

If you missed it, check out Lucas performing with Kate Reinders on the series on JJJ!

Lucas Grabeel and Kate Reinders aka Miss Jenn perform a duet in the latest episode of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series!

The OG High School Musical star returns to the franchise, but as a version of himself, and performs in a fantasy musical number with Miss Jenn.

“I had a blast with these peeps! @hsmtmtseries My EPISODE IS LIVE NOW! @disneyplus Seriously, these kids are the freaking best. If you were an HSM fan, watch this show!” Lucas wrote on Instagram.

“He’s a good mixture of Ryan and Lucas,” Lucas told TV Line about his role. “And they let me add a couple things of my own, including a nod to ‘We’re All in This Together.’ I also got to wear one of Ryan’s old hats while running around an auditorium, singing and dancing — which I haven’t done in a long time.”

Check out the music video now and be sure to catch the whole episode, now streaming on Disney+!