“Disney really broke my heart.”
Monique Coleman is recalling a heartbreaking memory from her “High School Musical” days.
While appearing on Tuesday’s episode of Christy Carlson Romano’s “Vulnerable” podcast, the actress — who starred as Taylor McKessie in all three “High School Musical” films — shared that Disney “broke [her] heart” after they allegedly didn’t invite her to promote the third movie, “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.”
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“Disney really broke my heart because when I got to the third movie, I in so many ways, I really championed the film,” Coleman, 42, told Romano, who is a fellow Disney alum. “I really always spoke so positively, and I was a Black girl playing the smartest girl in school which was a very big deal at that time.”
“When it came to promoting the third movie, I wasn’t invited on the tour. And they said something about there not being enough room on the plane,” she claimed, adding that “they only invited” stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and Corbin Bleu, while she and Lucas Grabeel “weren’t included.”
Coleman went on to recall her reaction, revealing that she was so hurt that she became slightly depressed.
“That heartbreak really hit me very deeply and did cause a bit of a depression because it helped me to recognize that I was overly identifying with what I was doing and not who I was,” she recalled. “And that was what led me to take that step and say, ‘Maybe this is my five minutes of fame. Maybe this is it in some way. And if that is the case, then what am I going to do with it?'”
She later added how she ultimately changed her perspective. “To be in the position where I had the wherewithal … and then to take that out into the world and say, you now what? I’m not gonna feel reduced to Taylor McKessie,” she said. “I’m gonna rise up and actually walk in the door and let people see me and connect this character that was their childhood with who Monique Coleman is and I’m gonna leave message that lets you know that your dreams are also positive.”
It was revealed back in September that Coleman will be one of the several original “High School Musical” cast members who will guest star in Season 4 of the Disney+ spinoff series, “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.”
During her conversation with Romano, Coleman shared that she “would be so open to working with Disney” again.
“Disney is my alma mater, I tell them all the time, I’d like to come home,” she said. “I feel like especially with Disney+, there’s so much more opportunity … I would absolutely be so open to a show on Disney. That would be very cool.”
