Speaker 1: Hey Wildcats, this is Bart Johnson and you're listening to
Speaker 1: gig your Head in the Game.
Speaker 2: Hi. Everyone, welcome back to gig Yourhead in the Game.
Speaker 1: Today's guest is someone high school musical fans will recognize
Speaker 1: as mister Evans, who plays the proud dad of Sharpay
Speaker 1: and Ryan Evans. But beyond Lava Springs, he's had a
Speaker 1: fascinating career both off and on the screen. I'm thrilled
Speaker 1: to dive into his experiences filming high school musical. Here's
Speaker 1: some behind the scenes stories and catch up on what
Speaker 1: he's been up.
Speaker 2: Two cents. Please welcome my friend, my brother Robert Curtis Brown.
Speaker 2: No way, come on, oh way, Yeah, I knew you're
Speaker 2: you know what.
Speaker 1: I knew you were going to get a nice button
Speaker 1: I'm shirt. Look at all sharks like, look at it
Speaker 1: like an Evans.
Speaker 2: I like I would know I was going through my
Speaker 2: claws and looking for the Vands Evans shirt. I don't
Speaker 2: think I was not really like.
Speaker 1: I've been wearing like a butt up shirt for those
Speaker 1: you know, I'm gonna go coach on this one because
Speaker 1: I know, I know, you know, Advance is gonna go
Speaker 1: all to look a sharp.
Speaker 2: You've got, you got, you've got to represent it, right.
Speaker 2: I looked for the club I was. I don't think
Speaker 2: they make that shirt anymore. That was a while ago.
Speaker 2: Is that did you wear something you wore something like that?
Speaker 2: I guess you always striped? Yeah, real crazy big stripes
Speaker 2: and big big stuff, big big looks. Are you handsome boy?
Speaker 2: I'm good man, I'm so good, So good to see you. Likewise,
Speaker 2: it's been too long, man, it has been too long.
Speaker 2: It's so great to have you. Robert Curtis Brown, my friend.
Speaker 1: It was so nice to have you, Like when you
Speaker 1: rolled up on on the movie. I got a friend,
Speaker 1: I got this one. I love another adult another dad. Well, welcome,
Speaker 1: welcome to the podcast, Robert. So great to have you, man,
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Glad to be here, happy to see your face.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but people don't know is that we are really
Speaker 1: our friends in real life? Hell yeah, met on the movie,
Speaker 1: but like instantly, like right, right, do you remember what
Speaker 1: that was?
Speaker 2: By the way, let's go back.
Speaker 1: I want to hear first of all, Robert, it's an
Speaker 1: honor to have you here, one of the one of
Speaker 1: the Evans family. Here where Sharpey gets all her stuff.
Speaker 1: From I think credit for any.
Speaker 2: Of that stuff.
Speaker 1: But man, it was so so awesome to have you
Speaker 1: in the movies. I was so excited to have You've
Speaker 1: done a million things before the movie, You've done a
Speaker 1: million things after the movie. It's so fun to see
Speaker 1: you popping up on TV and movies all the time.
Speaker 1: For me, all the time, it's always like, hey, I
Speaker 1: love it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I know we're going to talk about We'll
Speaker 2: talk about all that.
Speaker 1: But of course this podcast is dedicated to all the
Speaker 1: fans out there for twenty years of being the most
Speaker 1: incredible fans, my family, my East High family as I
Speaker 1: call them.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, I just want to do something special, So I
Speaker 1: want to bring in, like all the family members that
Speaker 1: were part of this franchise that contribute to the Wildcat universe.
Speaker 2: And we couldn't do it without you.
Speaker 1: So thank you for being a part of a big
Speaker 1: thank you for twenty years to our peeps.
Speaker 2: Thanks man.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but let's let's bring it back to the beginning.
Speaker 1: You've got you were deep into your career before you
Speaker 1: got this phone call. I know you've done a minie
Speaker 1: that you have over one hundred and twenty credits. I've
Speaker 1: been looking him up and going. Man, some of my
Speaker 1: favorite shows.
Speaker 2: By the way, very fortunate, very fun.
Speaker 1: Can you tell me like, let's just for the people.
Speaker 1: This is all questions for for peeps, like how did it?
Speaker 1: How did this start?
Speaker 2: For you? This? Yeah, this started. This was really a
Speaker 2: wild little intersection of of of of a lot of things.
Speaker 2: I I got the call to read for Mark Taylor's part.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, okay, but Judy Taylor, of course is the
Speaker 1: head of talent for Disney Channel.
Speaker 2: She was awesome.
Speaker 1: She was really instrumental getting all the right pieces and
Speaker 1: people involved, and her husband is.
Speaker 2: Just perfect for this character. You read the part for
Speaker 2: Fulton Fulton, yes, right, for that first Yeah, so that
Speaker 2: was the part I was actually in for. And I
Speaker 2: remember going to to read and we read the part,
Speaker 2: and then Kenny or Tega, our director, asked if I sang.
Speaker 2: And I hadn't really prepared much, but I said sure, yeah,
Speaker 2: I do. I sing, and he goes, you know, give
Speaker 2: me something, So I sang on the spot, on the spot,
Speaker 2: sang something from pal Joey. I think it's from Pal Joey.
Speaker 2: A little bit of me and a whole lot of
Speaker 2: you had a dash of starlight and a dozen roses too,
Speaker 2: then let it rise for one hundred years or two.
Speaker 2: And that's the recipe right too. And it's a little
Speaker 2: bouncy and it's it's a sweet little song. So I
Speaker 2: sang the song and he goes read these other pages.
Speaker 2: So I went out into the lobby and I sat there,
Speaker 2: and you know, you're given five minutes to look over
Speaker 2: the material. Came back in and it went really well,
Speaker 2: and we had just a blast in the room, and
Speaker 2: Kenny couldn't have been sweeter. And those both sides were
Speaker 2: for mister Evans. Evans now mister Evans in I School
Speaker 2: Musical two was really wonderful character with a wonderful entrance
Speaker 2: and a big, nice storyline. So I was happy with
Speaker 2: the opportunity. But who knows. The night I auditioned, we
Speaker 2: happened to have tickets for the high school musical concert,
Speaker 2: the music concert, music concert. Ah. So we went to
Speaker 2: the concert and afterwards we lined up because my daughter
Speaker 2: who was nine at the time, perfect age, perfect dad,
Speaker 2: she wanted to meet all the characters. And they had
Speaker 2: this big table and lines of you know, walk along
Speaker 2: and sign the programs and all that stuff. And I'm
Speaker 2: walking down this line with my nine year old thinking
Speaker 2: I might be playing their father. Yea, they have no
Speaker 2: idea and they have no idea, and I'm certainly not
Speaker 2: gonna say anything. But it was like I'm sitting there
Speaker 2: with you know, with with my kids and with Ashley
Speaker 2: and with Lucas, thinking should I say something to them,
Speaker 2: I might be your dad. That's just a weird line.
Speaker 2: That's a weird line. It's gonna like, you know, I
Speaker 2: don't know what that's gonna get. It's gonna get you
Speaker 2: thurity to haul you off. Let's not do that. Let's
Speaker 2: just play this, you know, straight, and.
Speaker 1: They might not even know you were there was a
Speaker 1: dad involved in number two. Have no idea, you have
Speaker 1: the script public before they did. At this point, they
Speaker 1: could very well be just kept going.
Speaker 2: And then like two days later I learned that, uh,
Speaker 2: that I had gotten the part, and and beside myself
Speaker 2: it was so much fun. And then and then of
Speaker 2: course we had this you know, amazing experience in Utah
Speaker 2: in Saint George shooting the movie and this beautiful, beautiful
Speaker 2: golf resort, and it was just glorious. It was glad.
Speaker 1: Yeah, by the way that I was at the concert,
Speaker 1: it was so fun because you see, like all these
Speaker 1: it's la it's a different experience, right, So all these
Speaker 1: like big celebrities and filmmakers. I met Kevin Smith there,
Speaker 1: like one of my hero filmmakers, right because their daughters.
Speaker 2: This is what you do.
Speaker 1: Many exactly, that's a great it's a great time to
Speaker 1: meet everybody.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, it was such a such a phenom
Speaker 2: at that point. You know, it was like such a
Speaker 2: such a crazy event, and it was packed and it
Speaker 2: was high energy, and the show was really fantastic. And
Speaker 2: the thing I realized in doing the listening to going
Speaker 2: to the concert, listening to them is that these kids
Speaker 2: like they're the real deal. I mean, they really had
Speaker 2: the goods. They had the talent and the chops and
Speaker 2: the dancing and they're singing and all of it. So
Speaker 2: I thought, wow, there's nothing, you know, there's nothing pretending.
Speaker 2: These guys are really good. Yeah, that's a talented group.
Speaker 2: Judy Taylor, I mean, and ever all the.
Speaker 1: Casting people, Kenny finds these super talented kids that just
Speaker 1: are are so you know, I don't know if you
Speaker 1: feel so. Sometimes I'll go to a Broadway show and
Speaker 1: it's like they're either really good actors or they're really
Speaker 1: good singers. They're usually not both, you know, so when
Speaker 1: you find both and then they're so charming. Like we're
Speaker 1: just talking about Zach and Vanessa. They were so charming
Speaker 1: when they were together. It's just like electricsiss, Like those
Speaker 1: two were so sweet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, thank you and yeah. I mean so all
Speaker 2: of them were just so lovely and so talented, and
Speaker 2: I thought, wow, did jump been to this pool? Is
Speaker 2: pretty uh pretty special now?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's let's talk about that. So you were
Speaker 1: you it was just that one meeting with Kenny I
Speaker 1: was in.
Speaker 2: Yes, that it may have been. There may have been
Speaker 2: like a pre thing with Judy Taylor. I'm thinking there
Speaker 2: may have been something, uh something earlier.
Speaker 1: You done any Disney Channel stuff like did you know
Speaker 1: I didn't know really Judy before No, I had.
Speaker 2: Done let me think I'd done uh several you know,
Speaker 2: something a show called Kicking It, okay, called the Thunderman's
Speaker 2: but I think that's on the Nickel after Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: it was after one anyway. Yeah, right, right, So, so
Speaker 2: there were a few kids shows that I sort of
Speaker 2: had had had been in on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I tested for Thundermans by the way to be
Speaker 1: the dub dad. Yeah, it was me at There's Three
Speaker 1: was like back and above, like it was an all
Speaker 1: day event. Oh I have been a fun show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was fun. It was the back. Yeah, some
Speaker 2: some talent on that show as well. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1: And then till two days later you get the phone
Speaker 1: call and you're like, you're Sharpay's dad, Oh my god.
Speaker 1: And by then she's iconic, like everybody loves shar Pei.
Speaker 2: Iconic, iconic, and and so I told my daughter this
Speaker 2: was happening. She was finishing school at a place called
Speaker 2: Ocean Charter down in Culver City, sort of you know,
Speaker 2: a Waldorf Fie kind of school, but there were plans
Speaker 2: to move them to our local homeschool, the public school,
Speaker 2: and so over the summer while the movie was set
Speaker 2: to come out and was switching schools landed at Grant
Speaker 2: Elementary School. And her dad, who's dropping her off every morning,
Speaker 2: Sharpay's dad. It was nuts every morning dropping her off
Speaker 2: at elementary school. So it created quite a stir and
Speaker 2: m came home one day, I'll never forget it. And
Speaker 2: she came home she goes, I have too many friends,
Speaker 2: so a nice problem to have.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I had kids in elementary school then as well,
Speaker 1: and you know you.
Speaker 2: Can't walk them in, No, can't do that anymore. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it was pretty It was pretty crazy thinking a rock
Speaker 2: started these like seven year old kids. Yeah, and I
Speaker 2: knew that, you know. I mean I've been doing a
Speaker 2: lot of stuff and done some nice projects and stuff,
Speaker 2: but that being a part of that phenomenon was so
Speaker 2: completely different from anything else I had sort of touched on. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean some big movies, well known movies and working
Speaker 2: with big people, but that kind of that kind of
Speaker 2: like cultural yeah, milestone. I mean it was such a
Speaker 2: huge hit. And to be involved in the second one.
Speaker 2: I mean, my character, as you wis, was not in
Speaker 2: the first one, but the first one really set the
Speaker 2: table and they got then. I'm sure when Disney realized
Speaker 2: they had this, you know, this massive hit on their hands,
Speaker 2: it was like, let's make a few more. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's a it's a great compliment to
Speaker 1: Ashley and to Lucas too, like let's go fill out
Speaker 1: there because you can't do that with all the characters,
Speaker 1: but like the more interesting characters, like let's take a
Speaker 1: look at their universe a little bit that happens a
Speaker 1: lot on a series like what was their family?
Speaker 2: You guys are so great. Jessica Tuck, who played my wife,
Speaker 2: who was, Oh, yeah, and she's you know, she lives
Speaker 2: two blocks from me and we you know, she's a neighbor.
Speaker 2: Was she then like, yeah, that's great, that's great. In fact,
Speaker 2: the house that she lives in was a house we
Speaker 2: we almost bought when we when we when we moved
Speaker 2: to to this part of Santa Monica. So anyway, a
Speaker 2: really small world. And then we wound up his husband
Speaker 2: and wife in that great movie. Amazing, amazing. Yeah, you
Speaker 2: guys are so perfect together. I was.
Speaker 1: I thought, always think it's funny like talking to some
Speaker 1: of the cast and and getting to know like like
Speaker 1: I'm like, I coach a lot, like I've been coaching
Speaker 1: the last fourteen years on my three Kids volunteer coat.
Speaker 2: I don't do stuff that pays money. I only do
Speaker 2: stuff that there is a rule I have.
Speaker 1: It's got to cost money and no rewards please.
Speaker 2: Uh no money?
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, that's yeah. My wife loves that plan. But
Speaker 1: you know, because so like when I play coach, it
Speaker 1: feels like, oh this is easy. I could do this
Speaker 1: in my sleep. Man, Like a coach. Is this authentic?
Speaker 1: And I always got a kick out of you, like
Speaker 1: of where, like like where you went to school?
Speaker 2: Rehybie were you where'd you go to school? To college? Yeah?
Speaker 2: I went to Yale to.
Speaker 1: Yale, kid, that's what I remember. I was thinking if
Speaker 1: I I remember that correctly? And then your kids carry
Speaker 1: on this tradition and they went where right?
Speaker 2: But I went to Yale after Yale? Yeah, id about
Speaker 2: eight years ago. I love.
Speaker 1: That is exactly what I want to see from from
Speaker 1: Vance Evans.
Speaker 2: You got to carry on my legacy, baby, But.
Speaker 1: You know you pull that, you know, like missus Darbus,
Speaker 1: she's she was on Broadway with Kenny and you know,
Speaker 1: to bring all her Broadway drama. It's like, there's God,
Speaker 1: there's stuff to mine out of our real lives, you know,
Speaker 1: totally totally you're doing that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and that that whole I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: I grew up in a you know, very middle class family,
Speaker 3: but then you land in a place that's where there
Speaker 3: are a.
Speaker 2: Lot of pretty pretty well off kids. You know, you
Speaker 2: getta you get a taste of a very different world.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it was eye opening. Yeah, yeah, oh that's great.
Speaker 2: Well you you did a great job of bringing that
Speaker 2: kind of waspiness to right now.
Speaker 1: So when we when we work together, I'm trying to
Speaker 1: remember what when we were Do you remember when we
Speaker 1: were in the basketball we had that was number two,
Speaker 1: those number two when we had our scene together, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, right when we were watching the basketball practice and
Speaker 2: the boot were all there.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, I've been watching the boys play,
Speaker 1: right And and do you know this is like become
Speaker 1: a trivia now because I'll for a while, I think
Speaker 1: it's more known now. But everybody wondered like if I
Speaker 1: had a first name, like does coach have a first name?
Speaker 1: And the only time my name is mentioned is from
Speaker 1: you in that scene. Oh yeah, it's the only time
Speaker 1: in all three movies other than that, I'm coach man.
Speaker 2: That's it. I'm trying to remember what I called you.
Speaker 2: You call me Jack Jack? Hey Jack, you go to
Speaker 2: see the Jack or something that Jack Bolton. That's a
Speaker 2: good name, is a great name.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you said it, though, because if you
Speaker 1: did it then it would be up for debate forever.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, oh, thank you, thank you for that. Well
Speaker 2: you got it. There's another funny naming story in that movie.
Speaker 2: The naming story is there's a big dinner scene we
Speaker 2: have at the club with Troy and Sharpey and another couple,
Speaker 2: and the other couple in the script, I can't remember
Speaker 2: what their names were, but I went to Ken and
Speaker 2: I asked him if he wouldn't mind if I changed
Speaker 2: their names. Uh. He said, what do you want to use?
Speaker 2: I said, I want to use Peter and Claire, which
Speaker 2: are kind of waspy names right a little bit on
Speaker 2: the side. They happen to be my kids middle names. Uh. Oh.
Speaker 2: I stuck them in the movie a little a little
Speaker 2: nods of my kids, and Kenny was digging it. So
Speaker 2: I love it. I love that. Yeah, a little another
Speaker 2: little Easter egg in High School musical too. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, we're always talking to Peter Barsacini on here. Those
Speaker 1: are our screenwriter, and his daughter's name is Gabriella, and
Speaker 1: Alicias his niece.
Speaker 2: I think. So there's like, you know, there's some fun
Speaker 2: little references. Yeah, the fun references there.
Speaker 1: But that is that is a Kenny though, because Kenny
Speaker 1: so but he's like, let me hear the name first.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to compromise on Okay, it's gotta gotta
Speaker 2: have the right music, right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Okay, So then, well so we did do you remember
Speaker 1: I think we shot that in Did we shoot that
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake?
Speaker 2: When we did the.
Speaker 1: Basketball I think it was back at Salt Lake for
Speaker 1: for that, because because the movie was mostly shot down
Speaker 1: to Saint George, right, which I think you did the
Speaker 1: dinner scene. You probably did the dinner scene down to
Speaker 1: Saint George in Toronto.
Speaker 2: The outdoor, you know, the final the big final number
Speaker 2: was we did the number that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, the big uh what was it called? The big competition?
Speaker 1: All the fans are gonna kill us. We don't come
Speaker 1: up with it. Do you remember what it is? Star
Speaker 1: dazzled Star Dazzle Award, Dazzle Award thing, go baby.
Speaker 2: I guess it was just the Showcase. Maybe they didn't
Speaker 2: have a name for this club, the sort of club showcase,
Speaker 2: right yeah. Yeah, mister had won for the last fifteen years. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly,
Speaker 2: never lost, right, Yeah. We did those and we did
Speaker 2: all the obviously all the golfing scene, and the best
Speaker 2: was the you know, the helicopter landing on the first team.
Speaker 2: That's I forgot about that. My favorite entrance of all time.
Speaker 2: I mean, you had a helicopter, man, you do it
Speaker 2: all right.
Speaker 1: It's like walking away from flames blowing up, you know,
Speaker 1: it's at that level.
Speaker 2: That was the second choice, right exactly. Helicopter Another That
Speaker 2: was another hilarious small world story because at the time
Speaker 2: the movie came out, my daughter had begun learning the
Speaker 2: french horn, and so we found this wonderful teacher who
Speaker 2: a couple people had recommended. He was coming to the
Speaker 2: house and they were playing for weeks and weeks, and
Speaker 2: she was getting pretty good. And one day he comes
Speaker 2: in and he goes, do you know that scene in
Speaker 2: High School Musical two where the helicopter lands and there's
Speaker 2: that big french horn solo, which is your entrance song?
Speaker 2: He said, I was the guy who played that on
Speaker 2: the track Get Out of Here. I had no idea
Speaker 2: this guy is in my living room who had played
Speaker 2: the french horn part for the I'm not kidding. It
Speaker 2: was like, you've got to be I mean, la is
Speaker 2: filled with wonderful musicians, but the fact that the living
Speaker 2: room crow to play the same inst it was kind
Speaker 2: of a trip. Ah. That's amazing. Yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 1: Smoke amazing that that that place where you landed and Trada.
Speaker 1: Was that that country club down there? Man, that place
Speaker 1: is awesome.
Speaker 2: Huh beautiful. David David Hall. I'm mentioning his name because
Speaker 2: he's such a wonderful guy. He was the manager of
Speaker 2: the club and a couple of times we had spoken
Speaker 2: and met while we were shooting the scenes and stuff,
Speaker 2: and he goes, you know, if you ever want to
Speaker 2: come out and you want to play ever on a
Speaker 2: day off, you know, please, you know, let me okay,
Speaker 2: And I got I got that club. I think I
Speaker 2: broke the club record. Ah wow for lost ball. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean thousands. I think you had to play together.
Speaker 2: Fair ways were about that wide. My recommend they're about
Speaker 2: six inches wide. It was brutal, there was, but a
Speaker 2: spectacularly beautiful course. All David Hall was so was so
Speaker 2: kind to us, uh to uh to set us up
Speaker 2: to play some golf. All that's nice.
Speaker 1: We should you and I should go do ah do
Speaker 1: a round out there for the for the twentieth Oh heck.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he would love And I'm still in touch with
Speaker 2: him actually, Oh cool, yeah with them? Yeah yeah, we
Speaker 2: can recreate the Zach's dance a dance splash the water yes,
Speaker 2: all the good stuff.
Speaker 1: Okay, so let me ask you a couple of things
Speaker 1: about that movie. Do you have a favorite scene? Like
Speaker 1: what what did you enjoy the most?
Speaker 2: Wow, it's always fun.
Speaker 1: Like locationally, I don't know, but how you feel about location,
Speaker 1: it's a lot of the fun gets sucked away when
Speaker 1: you have kids. You just want to be home with
Speaker 1: your kids. But other than that, like location, vacation is
Speaker 1: pretty nice.
Speaker 2: Go shoot somewhere fun, pretty fantastic. And that part of
Speaker 2: Utah is so beautiful. It actually coincided part of the
Speaker 2: shooting schedule, coinciding with my daughter's spring break, so I
Speaker 2: was able to bring them to Utah, so they were
Speaker 2: all They were all there for like that little week,
Speaker 2: nine days, ten days, something like that. So it was
Speaker 2: really nice. It was really nice to be able to
Speaker 2: do a little work. And then we did some touring
Speaker 2: around southern Utah and stuff. It was really beautiful. Yeah,
Speaker 2: national parks out there, science Yeah, Well, there's a state
Speaker 2: park just outside of Saint George called Snow Canyon, you
Speaker 2: know it. Yeah, it's really close to Intrada, Yeah exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 2: It was really it was really otherworldly and it's like
Speaker 2: these petrified sand dunes absolutely gorgeous. So we did a
Speaker 2: lot there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Uh were they on the set?
Speaker 2: Did they come coming out? They did? I have a
Speaker 2: I have a wonderful picture of M with Ashley, and
Speaker 2: m doesn't know quite what to do with herself, you know,
Speaker 2: with like megastars sitting next to her, and Ashley couldn't
Speaker 2: have been more sweet to her. Yeah, So she met everybody,
Speaker 2: and we walked around and met uh, met Zach and
Speaker 2: met uh Vanessa and everybody. So they were they were wonderful.
Speaker 2: That's good. Yeah, the kids are sweet, man. They were
Speaker 2: always great. Laugh.
Speaker 1: Their fame rose so quickly through those three movies. I
Speaker 1: was always so amazed that they're they're so cool still,
Speaker 1: they're so down to earth.
Speaker 2: They never got it Snotty or Brady, you know, no
Speaker 2: exactly just I mean I think that's partly because, like
Speaker 2: as I said earlier, they were the real deal. I mean,
Speaker 2: these were not people who were like putting on the parts.
Speaker 2: They were they were they were that talented. Yeah, that
Speaker 2: dancing and Lucas and Ashley is like, I mean, she
Speaker 2: was like Lucy o Ball. She was so funny, her
Speaker 2: sense of flaming and her her her sort of quick wittedness.
Speaker 2: She was just so much fun to work with. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 2: people love her, people love to hate her. Yeah. And
Speaker 2: then then there's these theories. Have you heard the.
Speaker 1: Theory of the the the lore of uh that she's
Speaker 1: really the hero and Gabriella is the villain.
Speaker 2: Oh, there's a whole thing.
Speaker 1: It's pretty smart too, because it's like, well, Gabrielle's like
Speaker 1: pulling her away and Sharpay is always trying to uh
Speaker 1: get him to you know, to excel and be great
Speaker 1: and double down and get resources and you know, like be.
Speaker 2: His best self, and I Gabriel's like pulling him away,
Speaker 2: man from his things. He's been working out. Wait a
Speaker 2: second year, there's a home. There's a whole bunch of
Speaker 2: HSM universe. Yeah, yeah, HSM After dark Man, there's some stories.
Speaker 2: You has asked me about my favorite scene. Favorite. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's so funny because because I think back on it
Speaker 2: and there were it was just the whole experience of
Speaker 2: being there and watching other scenes being shot. I mean,
Speaker 2: I mean the fun one was the helicopter entrance, which
Speaker 2: was just, you know, so completely over the top, and
Speaker 2: it was it was amazing that they were able to
Speaker 2: even pull it off, you know, bistically. But but that
Speaker 2: was that was pretty That was pretty spectacular. And then
Speaker 2: just balancing and there I am with you know, with
Speaker 2: Corbin and with with uh, you know, all these Zach
Speaker 2: and Vanessa and everybody. It was just it was a
Speaker 2: great It was a great way to bring the character
Speaker 2: into the story. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's such a fun character of those kind of
Speaker 1: roles where you play those kind of roles.
Speaker 2: Do you do you love?
Speaker 1: Like I don't feel like I get auditions for like
Speaker 1: a flayer or a doctor.
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, dude, yeah.
Speaker 1: Like I'm I'm gonna try really hard to get his job,
Speaker 1: and then on the inside, I'm gonna say, please, don't.
Speaker 2: Get the job.
Speaker 1: I don't want to have to learn medical jargon to
Speaker 1: be like all like just somebody just feel like a
Speaker 1: dude or let you know, let me be happy, like
Speaker 1: mister hey, hey, you know life of the Party guy.
Speaker 2: It's funny. I just thought I just thought the character
Speaker 2: when I when I started thinking about the character, I
Speaker 2: thought of Richard Branson. Yeah, yeah, yeah, a guy who
Speaker 2: uses his wealth to just open the world. It's like, yes,
Speaker 2: not just to himself, but to his f family, to
Speaker 2: his kids. It's like making things happen, bringing people together.
Speaker 2: It's like this ultimate sort of uh you know, giver
Speaker 2: and and someone who acts out of this incredible gratitude
Speaker 2: for for all the all the possibility, you know, sort
Speaker 2: of I sort of rather than thinking of him as
Speaker 2: a guy who's just rich. Yes, I knew it was
Speaker 2: about it was about you know, sending sending the ripples
Speaker 2: out and making things happen for other people and and
Speaker 2: having wonderful experiences. So that was sort of the energy
Speaker 2: I felt was behind the character. Was just this abundance,
Speaker 2: this incredible abundance, you know. Yes, yeah, you know.
Speaker 1: I've been talking with a lot of people about their
Speaker 1: characters who have not approached this like some actors might suspect, like, oh,
Speaker 1: it's a dizzy's little Disney channel. I'm gonna I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be this one dimensional, one thing, and it's just not
Speaker 1: interesting that way you see in a big movie.
Speaker 2: I mean, you see a big movie. I just watched.
Speaker 1: I just watched a movie every night by myself in
Speaker 1: the theaters for six nights. Cinel, Did you see anything
Speaker 1: great the movie I wanted to see the least no
Speaker 1: interest in this because I stopt the poster, like like
Speaker 1: was this.
Speaker 2: Cheney's handa movie? Roofman, Oh yeah, it's great. The movie
Speaker 2: is great.
Speaker 1: Chris Kirsty Dunston was great, like terrific movie and all
Speaker 1: these other like big movies, one dimensional characters, not interesting.
Speaker 2: Just it baffles my mind.
Speaker 1: But anyway, I just appreciate when someone brings more than like, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: oh Sharp Pays Dad, Let's see it would probably he'd
Speaker 1: probably be this kind of guy, let me be this
Speaker 1: one dimensional character, so not interesting, but you bring this
Speaker 1: Richard Brandson into it, and all a sudden, now he's
Speaker 1: charming and interesting and wants to do good and you
Speaker 1: could see it like, okay, Sharp Pay might get caught
Speaker 1: up on the wrong side of that maybe right right
Speaker 1: right right, texture that way and yeah, a little.
Speaker 2: Too much or you know the pink goat the the
Speaker 2: golf cart, yeah yeah, over the top pink golf cart.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah.
Speaker 1: But underneath she's got more than that going on. She's like,
Speaker 1: that's the moment she's in her life. Underneath it's and
Speaker 1: then you see she brings moments of this uh you know,
Speaker 1: there's the levity, but then there's also the sincerity of
Speaker 1: like these moments where she gets real and it's like,
Speaker 1: you know what, those are the colors that I think
Speaker 1: contribute to make this thing so special and not a
Speaker 1: one dimensional it's like such a special thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely, those kind of choices. Yeah, it
Speaker 2: just it just you know, not not casting, not casting.
Speaker 2: It's you know the old actor axiom. You know, don't
Speaker 2: don't judge your own character and say good guy or
Speaker 2: or a bad guy, or he's this guy, he's he
Speaker 2: is who he is, and so so don't don't cast
Speaker 2: him as a you know, a villain who's just spoiling
Speaker 2: his daughter. He's a guy who's had up so many
Speaker 2: opportunities and and is using that to bring other people
Speaker 2: in and make other things happen, to connect people to you.
Speaker 1: Know, that kind of that kind of idea, And now
Speaker 1: its up all these fun things for you and your wife,
Speaker 1: for Jessica like to get like like just be so
Speaker 1: much more interesting.
Speaker 2: Totally. I love it so that when they get to
Speaker 2: by the time they get to high school, musical three,
Speaker 2: we make our entrance that we've just been to India,
Speaker 2: and so we dressful and all that, all those crazy
Speaker 2: colors and you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, now we want to know, Like I would watch
Speaker 1: a show with you guys, like where they go next?
Speaker 2: I want to see how they do. The world is
Speaker 2: wide open, It's wide open, so many possibilities. So yeah,
Speaker 2: that was that was a that was a fun way
Speaker 2: to sort of approach the you know, the the the
Speaker 2: idea of being so wealthy that you know, you don't
Speaker 2: want it to be a burden on the guy, you
Speaker 2: don't want to be it. But it was. It was fun.
Speaker 2: It was really fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I know the answer to this already,
Speaker 1: but these are some of the questions that people want
Speaker 1: to know from you. Yeah, who did you spoil? I
Speaker 1: know this, but who did you spend the most time with?
Speaker 1: Who did you have like any characters that on the
Speaker 1: show that you got to have a little more time
Speaker 1: more like hit it off with or have good memories with.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, mostly I think about mostly
Speaker 2: with with Jessic, with my family, with the people in
Speaker 2: my family you know, uh uh Ashley and Lucas and Jessica,
Speaker 2: uh and you know a lot of our stuff was
Speaker 2: together and and so yeah, the four, the four of us,
Speaker 2: And it was also it was also you know, within
Speaker 2: that within that story, we were lucky because we got
Speaker 2: to play a whole family. We got to play you know,
Speaker 2: parents and two kids and and and come up with
Speaker 2: the rhythm of our own and how we operated with
Speaker 2: one another and played around. So even in that first
Speaker 2: scene with the helicopter, some of the some of that
Speaker 2: dialogue and stuff was improvised. It was not. It was
Speaker 2: just we were just getting to know each other, you know,
Speaker 2: So it was it was really fun. You and Jessica
Speaker 2: were just making stuff up. Yeah. Well there' stuff with
Speaker 2: like Ryan and I you know you and Ryan. Yeah yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: like you know, you know, you've been working out, you know,
Speaker 2: you know, you know, soy yoga, you know, and so
Speaker 2: all that stuff. All that stuff was just our own.
Speaker 2: You just brought that on the fly. Yeah yeah, yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Is so much more interesting. Did you guys make up
Speaker 1: other stuff? Like Jessica seems like she seems awesome. I
Speaker 1: just loved her. But she's and a super talented works
Speaker 1: a ton, but she's probably great to work with too
Speaker 1: as far as like improvising and just kind of make
Speaker 1: it like she embodied that case she went deep days,
Speaker 1: I'm in, I'm.
Speaker 2: All in totally. And and again the same we sort
Speaker 2: of connected in the in that idea of our characters
Speaker 2: being you know, we're just like life is this banquet
Speaker 2: and we get to we get to dig in, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. Like that was that was sort
Speaker 2: of the way we thought about our characters.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I heard this, Uh this reality city star. He
Speaker 1: was somebody that everybody hated on this reality show. It
Speaker 1: was like some MTV reality show, and he just just
Speaker 1: was a menace, just I mean, like in real life
Speaker 1: on the show, just like a tall, complete terror. And
Speaker 1: he's like he's like, look, man, look this is a
Speaker 1: like someone gave me a Ferrari in life. Like I've
Speaker 1: got this little famous gonna last about five minutes. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna tear it up. I'm not gonna like tet you
Speaker 1: like a baby and give it back to you like
Speaker 1: you know, brand new, Like no, I'm gonna like CAUs
Speaker 1: as much chaos as possible.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: That So I was like, it was such such an
Speaker 1: interesting take, and I was like, oh man, there's a
Speaker 1: there's some life lessons in there. You know, We've been
Speaker 1: giving great opportunities. And if you don't like grab him
Speaker 1: and make something out of him, enjoy it.
Speaker 2: You know. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely and I mean, my gosh,
Speaker 2: here we are all these years later, still talking about
Speaker 2: this iconic movie. I mean movie that that. I mean,
Speaker 2: people people still, you know, when they recognize me or
Speaker 2: I mentioned it, or someone mentions you know, you know
Speaker 2: who that is, and people really like freak out. It's
Speaker 2: really they really like it was a big deal for
Speaker 2: for you know, for all of us to be to
Speaker 2: be involved in it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting and and and well we gotta talk
Speaker 1: about some of this other stuff you've done. But I
Speaker 1: remember when I was watching Handsmaid's Tale, which is such
Speaker 1: a heavy show, and then you popped up. I was like,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, Curtis Prouh my gosh, and you're like heavy
Speaker 1: on that show.
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, my gosh, gotcha heavy? Oh, oh my gosh. Yeah.
Speaker 1: But even though it's like this critically acclaimed, like amazing,
Speaker 1: incredible TV series, do people freak out as much.
Speaker 2: About that as they do with this one? Though? Yeah.
Speaker 2: It's very funny because there were I mean, that show
Speaker 2: it was a lot, you know, it was. The show
Speaker 2: was it was timed so perfectly in terms of when
Speaker 2: it was launched, the subjects they were talking about and
Speaker 2: what they were dealing with and and it was some
Speaker 2: pretty scary stuff and it it came up. I mean
Speaker 2: obviously the show was in development for a long time
Speaker 2: and just sort of hit when it did. Yeah, but yeah,
Speaker 2: that's a show that that people followed pretty intensely. Yeah. Pretty,
Speaker 2: Uh they were, they were pretty hooked on it. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and to play the guy who essentially the guy who
Speaker 2: essentially started billiad it's uh, you know, you feel like
Speaker 2: your ground zero. But anyway, it was. Yeah, it was
Speaker 2: a great gig. Great, Yeah, spooky to work on, very
Speaker 2: spooky to work on. Yeah, it's so dark that show,
Speaker 2: my gosh, so dark. And the mood on the on
Speaker 2: the set, you know, it's I mean Margaret Atwood, who
Speaker 2: wrote the novel, was there. Oh, he was consulting on
Speaker 2: the show and could advise. You know, she when when
Speaker 2: she wrote the book, everything in the book had happened
Speaker 2: in history. There was an historical basis for everything that
Speaker 2: took place at some point or another, and she pulled
Speaker 2: these ideas together and so you know, the fact that
Speaker 2: it was all all based in reality was pretty we
Speaker 2: gave gave it an extra level of of terror. I
Speaker 2: think for a lot of people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you know, it just tends to always go
Speaker 1: back love like the authenticity, more authenticity in mind out
Speaker 1: of a situation like boy, it just it just hits.
Speaker 2: It's different truly.
Speaker 1: But what do Disney Channel people or or people that
Speaker 1: grew up watching those great dcom shows? Uh, what do
Speaker 1: they recognize you from?
Speaker 2: Or what do they do? What do they respond to? Well,
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean most of it now is high
Speaker 2: school musical, but but yeah, uh, you know, there's there's
Speaker 2: a there are a number of shows that have sort
Speaker 2: of come and gone, like you know, Supernatural or all
Speaker 2: the Star Trek shows. I did all those and and
Speaker 2: and and they're these shows that sort of have these
Speaker 2: really hardcore followings, right right, So so those kind of shows,
Speaker 2: but the the shows for kids, I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: I mean my first my first movie was Trading Places,
Speaker 2: which became a huge, huge, huge hit. I mean right
Speaker 2: out of school, and I was, you know, there I
Speaker 2: was working with these you know, Hollywood legends, I mean
Speaker 2: legends like Ralph Bellaby and Donamichi. A few months after
Speaker 2: I graduated, and I'm like, oh man, this acting thing
Speaker 2: is so easy. You just we're talking about land in
Speaker 2: this huge movie with Eddie Murphy and Droyd and James
Speaker 2: Lee Curtis and you know, just cruise, you know, not
Speaker 2: quite the way it works out, but it's still one
Speaker 2: of my favorite movies. I love that movie. It still
Speaker 2: holds up. It really. Yeah. I was one of your
Speaker 2: first jobs after school. Uh. It was my second job
Speaker 2: after wow, I did. I graduated in May and went
Speaker 2: to do a regional theater production of A Midsummer Night's Stream.
Speaker 2: Some amazing people Judy Jody Long who wound up being
Speaker 2: the LA screen actors killed President Sag after a President It,
Speaker 2: Keith David who has had an astonishing career, j Smith Cameron,
Speaker 2: who of course his own succession. I mean, some really
Speaker 2: great people in this production. And then I finished the
Speaker 2: show and went back home, and it's like, now what
Speaker 2: do I do? How do I get a career started?
Speaker 2: And then I got this call to gwinn and read
Speaker 2: for Bonnie Timmerman and trading Places and and booked the gig.
Speaker 2: So it was h Yeah, it was off and running.
Speaker 2: That must have been amazing to be on that big show.
Speaker 2: It was. It was well, It's funny because I was
Speaker 2: shooting the movie during the day and I was actually
Speaker 2: understudying a Broadway show at night. Wow, So I had
Speaker 2: two jobs at once and again it's like, I mean
Speaker 2: light work. It's it's nothing. It's just like to just
Speaker 2: go from gig to gig to gig. Yeah. Years later
Speaker 2: it's all the same, so it's uh yeah, it was
Speaker 2: just it was just a really lucky break to get
Speaker 2: to get that first one, you know, in such in
Speaker 2: again another movie that that so many people know and
Speaker 2: love and have seen, you know, multiple times.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh my gosh, my first job in how when
Speaker 1: I moved here, I'd like packed up my car and
Speaker 1: quit college and did the drive and I got this
Speaker 1: France for Coppola film Familia is my first movie. I
Speaker 1: was like, but the the pain and suffering came quickly after.
Speaker 1: Right then I started waiting tables and then to take off,
Speaker 1: and then uh, I get to quit that job, and
Speaker 1: then a year later I'm waiting tables again.
Speaker 2: Oh that's that's four times. Oh my gosh, I know
Speaker 2: that's the roller coaster. Man.
Speaker 1: Oh man, totally signed up for this stuff, like I know, right, So, okay,
Speaker 1: so you've done and and what other? So you did
Speaker 1: other Disney Channel stuff before high school musical a bunch
Speaker 1: of stuff.
Speaker 2: Did I do a bunch of stuff? Well, well, I
Speaker 2: guess Thutterman's was after Thunderman's was after I did a
Speaker 2: show called Kicking It. I know. Yeah, remember whether it's
Speaker 2: before or after. That's the problem with twenty years. No,
Speaker 2: I know, I'd have to have to get my IMDb
Speaker 2: page up here and track everything. But I don't. I think, Uh,
Speaker 2: those are the two that jump out of me. There
Speaker 2: were probably there were probably others.
Speaker 1: And then of course all sorts of other film and
Speaker 1: television work before this time.
Speaker 2: Lots of really good stuff. I just I don't know, man,
Speaker 2: I just got so lucky. I just got so so lucky.
Speaker 2: I hit a couple of things, hit a couple, a
Speaker 2: couple of big things early and and yeah, I just
Speaker 2: had a really great time sort of sort of launching
Speaker 2: ten years in New York after drama school, and then
Speaker 2: came out here. You know, in like ninety one. You
Speaker 2: did a lot of theater tho those first ten years. Yeah,
Speaker 2: a lot of theater all over sort of New England,
Speaker 2: New York, you know, Bufflow Studio, Arena, Syracuse Stage, Jeeva
Speaker 2: and Rochester. Did a few shows. Was in New York.
Speaker 2: One really huge production of Julius Caesar at the New
Speaker 2: York Shakespeare Festival with Martin Sheen and Ed Herman, and
Speaker 2: my dressing room mate was Al Pacino. So we got
Speaker 2: down wow every night, every night. It was a trip. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's amazing.
Speaker 1: You could be this long into this talking about your
Speaker 1: career and like this happened to casually drop.
Speaker 2: Yeah. He and I hung out every night and he
Speaker 2: was so wonderful legend work with and legend, and at
Speaker 2: the time it was interesting. It was just before he
Speaker 2: started Godfather three. Wow. So he had a bodyguard standing
Speaker 2: outside our dressing room who just sort of screen people
Speaker 2: so nobody could come in. And one day and on
Speaker 2: this young actor. I was out of school maybe two years.
Speaker 2: I'm just you know, I'm still trying to figure it
Speaker 2: all out, Like how did I get here? And I
Speaker 2: was putting Octavius, which I would argue is the best
Speaker 2: part in Julius Caesar. It doesn't come in until after
Speaker 2: the intermission fact four, and he's got the best armor,
Speaker 2: the best armor or more length cake. I mean, it
Speaker 2: was just my costume was spectacular, awesome, and all my
Speaker 2: stuff was with Al Pacino. He played Mark Antony, so
Speaker 2: he and I did all our scenes together. So there's
Speaker 2: a little sheepish knock at the door in this guy
Speaker 2: Lou who was Al's bodyguard, sticks his head in and
Speaker 2: he goes, there's someone here to see him. Who is it?
Speaker 2: It's Bobby. Door opens and Robert de Niro walks in
Speaker 2: and he sits down next to Al and they start talking.
Speaker 2: And I have never taken my makeup off those slowly
Speaker 2: in my life. I'm just leaning and listening. It's like
Speaker 2: one of these guys talking about one of it. Yes,
Speaker 2: oh my lord. I mean I'm in this room three
Speaker 2: feet from two of the biggest movie stars on the planet.
Speaker 2: It was pretty. It was pretty. It was pretty epic,
Speaker 2: and he was there were They were just great people,
Speaker 2: great people. Wow, wow, some good, some good stuff, some
Speaker 2: some great, some great early opportunities. You know, that's cool.
Speaker 2: I have a picture of me and Al and another
Speaker 2: having a pillow fight and come on, come on with
Speaker 2: Alpha Cheta. This pillow fight broke out at one time
Speaker 2: and he's like shying away and it was it was wild. Wow.
Speaker 2: I did not think we were going to get to
Speaker 2: that in this That's amazing, man, please please, yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 2: that's so good.
Speaker 1: I just got to mention I was talking to Peter
Speaker 1: bars KINI or screenwriter. Yeah, yeah, you start talking about
Speaker 1: where the music like originated from the show. What really
Speaker 1: first time I got in the cities, well like in
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty five, I had this job and I was
Speaker 1: driving around Janis Joplin and she's putting these eight trac
Speaker 1: chapes some like so this is my Janis Joppa moment
Speaker 1: with you and al Pacino.
Speaker 2: How I feel like stuff? Right, it's amazing, right, wow? Huge.
Speaker 2: She would tell stories like and then this happens.
Speaker 1: She's stick in another at eight track, taking play the
Speaker 1: soundtrack to her next story, and put in another one.
Speaker 2: It's a graz story. Oh you're doing It's so funny.
Speaker 2: You say her, you say her voy her name, and
Speaker 2: her voice is like, come long, comea sorry, I got this.
Speaker 2: Janus Joplin likes it's in my brain. I love it, man,
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: For this generation that's listening to this, go see trading places,
Speaker 1: pick up some chances Joplin, and see some some al
Speaker 1: Pacino movies.
Speaker 2: Old school, old school, throw.
Speaker 1: That got gems here for you kids. Yeah, guys, you've trusted.
Speaker 2: Us this far.
Speaker 1: Okay, so high school musical comes out, you get recognized
Speaker 1: like crazy. I'm sure everywhere you go, like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, on street corners in New York getting out of
Speaker 2: a taxi and this woman goes, oh my god, oh
Speaker 2: my god, this is mister Evans. Oh my god. I
Speaker 2: mean like that that kind of like Beatles stuff. You know,
Speaker 2: it's like, it's hilarious. You've gotten this forever. I'm sure
Speaker 2: you know that. You know the vibe, Yeah, just like
Speaker 2: it didn't see it coming, didn't like what a shocker.
Speaker 1: I mean, when you joined the cast, it was a
Speaker 1: it was a big thing, so like you knew you
Speaker 1: were getting into something iconic, but not twenty years later, No, no, no, right, right,
Speaker 1: we you know, we looked enough of same that were like,
Speaker 1: it's still we're still getting it, right, like still like people.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. And then and then when you're I mean
Speaker 2: I've been to movie openings and all that kind of stuff,
Speaker 2: you know, premieres, but when you go to a Disney
Speaker 2: event and it's dancers and singers and set pieces and
Speaker 2: swimming pools and food and golf carts, and I mean
Speaker 2: it was just so it was it was just huge.
Speaker 2: After this movie came out and the launch of the movie.
Speaker 2: That whole countdown remember the countdown to HSM two they
Speaker 2: did on the channel. Yeah, and there was this whole thing,
Speaker 2: you know, you and everybody cleared the decks. I knew
Speaker 2: so many people who like, I'm not doing anything Thursday night.
Speaker 2: Thursday night, I am in front of my TV. I'm
Speaker 2: not you know. I mean, there were big parties and
Speaker 2: then and then when the DVD launched, it was another
Speaker 2: big thing at El Capitan. Yeah. So it was just
Speaker 2: it was just being part of a being part of
Speaker 2: a real you know phenomenon. It was just it was
Speaker 2: so much fun. Yeah, so much fun. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I can't believe how many people have told me they
Speaker 1: watched it on opening night with a party, and it
Speaker 1: was that. The numbers were it was. It was the
Speaker 1: most viewed cable movie ever in history television and then.
Speaker 1: But the experts are like every household that was counted
Speaker 1: had about twenty you know kids the movie. So the
Speaker 1: numbers were like way off, but still still most most
Speaker 1: watched it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, I totally get it. I mean I remember
Speaker 2: I just remember, you know, in my house, my house,
Speaker 2: my daughter was just beside herself waiting for it to happen. Yeah,
Speaker 2: big stuff.
Speaker 1: She was so she was she was like a year older.
Speaker 2: I guess third grade. Yeah, so she had put her
Speaker 2: second at the other school and then moved over in
Speaker 2: third grade. Yeah, school, and and oh my lord.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know it's funny. I've always thought it was
Speaker 1: funny because if I take my kids to elementary school,
Speaker 1: the kids were crazy, but if you went to junior
Speaker 1: high in high school, not so much.
Speaker 2: They're a few years later. Right, It's like you just
Speaker 2: watch it or grow up.
Speaker 1: And now like I do, I do, Like I hear
Speaker 1: people there, you know, I want a cameo, and you know,
Speaker 1: I hear people requesting videos. And it used to be
Speaker 1: like graduate, graduate from high school and you send them
Speaker 1: a video. Now graduate from college. And now I'm like
Speaker 1: that won't get married. Now I'm having a kid like.
Speaker 2: I was growing up. I love it. And it's so
Speaker 2: funny because as you know, as I've obviously aged, and
Speaker 2: people say, people will say, and you may get this,
Speaker 2: like I know you or we've met before, Yeah you know,
Speaker 2: do you like you know, do you shop at Trader
Speaker 2: Joe's or whatever it is? And I say, well no,
Speaker 2: and then I look at them and I say, well,
Speaker 2: how old are you? Yeah, yeah, oh twenty six, I said, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: twenty six. I was in high school musical No, you know,
Speaker 2: jaw drop moment. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think if you're a millennial, if you're in that
Speaker 1: window like one hundred percent, you know, Honor Curtis Brown
Speaker 1: for for sure. Right, yeah, I've got I have had
Speaker 1: a lot of people say, especially early on, and then
Speaker 1: they got to know my character.
Speaker 2: This is how it started. They said, you were my coach,
Speaker 2: you coached me.
Speaker 1: I remember you were, And I'm like, well, kind of
Speaker 1: like no, no, no.
Speaker 2: No, you were my coach.
Speaker 1: You were I'm like, yes, yeah, I am your coach,
Speaker 1: but not how you're thinking.
Speaker 2: I'll let them get there. You know, you should say
Speaker 2: to him, but I want to know, Oh did you
Speaker 2: get your head into the game. Yes? Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then as time goes on, then then they know
Speaker 1: your character name. And then five years later now they
Speaker 1: know your personal name, and it's like right, right, right,
Speaker 1: twenty years you still still here?
Speaker 2: We are, man, here we are I know right.
Speaker 1: Well, hey, before before you start thinking about leaving me,
Speaker 1: what what are you up to? What you're doing? What
Speaker 1: are you on social media? Much are you what are
Speaker 1: you doing what you got going on?
Speaker 2: What am I doing? I mean, you know this is crazy,
Speaker 2: my my, My big thing right now is I am
Speaker 2: playing I'm playing softball in three different leagues. Wow, I
Speaker 2: am the I'm batting forth playing shortstop. And my team
Speaker 2: in Manhattan Beach is going into the playoffs tomorrow. Wow.
Speaker 2: Ready for this? Are you sitting down? I'm ready? My
Speaker 2: team is nineteen and oh whoa already league. All teams
Speaker 2: are equal. We have run the table to WHO and
Speaker 2: it's a perfect season for the first time ever. Excited.
Speaker 2: I'm still very elm still just digging the game, dominating
Speaker 2: wherever you go, even in a park in Manhattan Beach, Yes,
Speaker 2: especially there. Yeah, No, I mean, you know, I've been
Speaker 2: I've been very lucky. I did a I worked on
Speaker 2: a show for Amazon for a little while. I had
Speaker 2: a recurring thing on CSI. I did a bunch of
Speaker 2: shows there. I did a recurring part on Station nineteen,
Speaker 2: The Firefighters Show. Yeah yeah, played Travis's dad on that one.
Speaker 2: And so yeah, you know, just just keep showing up, man,
Speaker 2: just keep showing up. Yeah. Yeah, Well, you you are
Speaker 2: a true like working actor. Man.
Speaker 1: You got such a body of work you've done for
Speaker 1: so many decades. It's just I feel the same way.
Speaker 2: Nount God. So grateful, yeah, so grateful for it. And
Speaker 2: it's people say, you know, you gotta retire, and I said, well,
Speaker 2: I feel like I've been retired since the day I
Speaker 2: graduated from drama school. Yeah, yeah, you know, a long
Speaker 2: time ago. And then you know, you do the gigs
Speaker 2: when they come along, and you hopefully you enjoy your
Speaker 2: life in between, and you you know, you don't you
Speaker 2: don't hook too much on any of them, and just
Speaker 2: do your best when the opportunities come along.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think retirement, like for an actor, it used
Speaker 1: to be maybe moving away, moving to the countryside, but
Speaker 1: now that it self tapes like, is there a retirement?
Speaker 2: Like I know, there's only people in their eighties and nineties,
Speaker 2: and you know, look at June squib She's had a
Speaker 2: career that started when she was like seventy. You know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're saying as we're available, we're available, we're here.
Speaker 2: We're not ever going to retire.
Speaker 1: So you need a couple of couple dads, you know, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you get them right on, right on. I'd see that show.
Speaker 1: Heck you Troy's dad Sharpay's dad off on an adventure.
Speaker 1: That's right, playing tuff ball together, that's right, Jack and.
Speaker 2: Vance advanced dude, I don't want to say it right,
Speaker 2: say that a couple of times like where this is going? Man?
Speaker 2: Well hey please post that stuff? What what's your do?
Speaker 2: Do you ever handle? What are you on Instagram? Guys?
Speaker 2: Do you Curtis Brown? Robert Curtis Brown? One word? Yeah,
Speaker 2: one one big giant loan all the way across the stop.
Speaker 2: A very cool yes, brother? What what a what a treat?
Speaker 2: So great to see your face. You look like you
Speaker 2: have not you like sleeping in a cryogenic chamber or something.
Speaker 2: You're like, we're.
Speaker 1: Stayed active and uh gosh, it's a good it's a
Speaker 1: good thing to do for as an actor, I guess.
Speaker 2: So. Uh Yeah, we're blessed, man, we are. We're blessed, truly.
Speaker 2: It's the it's just our souls. They're just so pure.
Speaker 2: That's it.
Speaker 1: Great to see. But let's get together soon, right on.
Speaker 1: Congrats with with everything and thanks for spending some time
Speaker 1: with with me, with our wildcat, with our people, our
Speaker 1: East High family. Yeah, we are, we are. We are
Speaker 1: so grateful for all of you out there. So I
Speaker 1: love you guys.
Speaker 2: We are indeed, we are indeed spend what a ride, dude,
Speaker 2: twenty years ride, yeah, twenty years more. Man, Let's keep
Speaker 2: it going. Let's do it, jack and dance, all right, baby,
Speaker 2: love it over stickers, lunchboxes. Oh yeah, man, I gotta
Speaker 2: get all the merchandising. I love that the kids are
Speaker 2: going to be especially the kids are gonna love it.
Speaker 1: They're gonna love it all right, rally all right, man,
Speaker 1: I'll talk to you suit all the best. Thanks for
Speaker 1: being here, all right, take care o, goodbye