Monique Coleman ignored on ‘High School Musical 3’ promo tour: ‘There was no room on the plane’

In 2006, “High School Musical” premiered on the Disney Channel. The story of these East High students who decided to break with the status quo became a sweeping phenomenon that led to two sequels, a concert tour, and catapulted its stars to fame. The most advantaged were Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgensbut Ashley Tisdale and Corbin Bleu also enjoyed a lot of exposure, especially within the house of mice.

However, Monique Coleman was always in the background despite appearing on the posters alongside everyone else. The actress played Gabriella’s best friend Taylor, and not only was her character a bit overlooked in the movies, but she wasn’t even treated the same way by the crew. Coleman recently appeared on Christy Carlson Romano’s podcast and revealed it She wasn’t even invited to participate in the ‘High School Musical 3’ promotional tourthe conclusion of the trilogy that will be released in theaters.

“I can safely say that Disney broke my heart. When it came to the third film, I was always supportive of it and spoke very positively about it. It was a black girl who played the smartest in the class, which it was very important at the time. . When it came time to promote the film I was not invited to the tour. They told me there was no room on the plane. They only invited Zac, Vanessa, Ashley and Corbin” explains the actress, noting that Lucas Grabeel, who played Ryan and was considered to star, was also dropped from the promotion. Monique Coleman says this ninguneo had an impact on her: “It caused me some depression, because it helped me realize that what I was doing was being considered and not who I was. That’s what led me to step and say, ‘maybe these are my five minutes of fame? Maybe this is it?'”.

This isn’t the first time Coleman has reported a case of discrimination against his co-stars. In January 2021, she said in an interview with Insider that she did not have a stylist on the set of the first episode that he knew the needs of a black person in the hair section: “We have grown a lot in this industry in representing and understanding the needs of an African-American actress. But the truth is that they had done my hair very badly in front”. That’s why she came up with the idea of ​​fixing the mess by wearing a turban or headband, and talked to the wardrobe team so they could turn it into “part of the character”.

Go back to East High

In the podcast he also talked about the age difference with his peers: “Corbin and I had been separated for nine years. Vanessa and I had been separated for eight years. I was 24 and working with 15, 16 year olds, I had a completely different perspective.”. However, she considers herself a “big sister” to them and continues to be on good terms. In fact, she doesn’t hold a grudge against Disney and agreed to return to the franchise with a cameo in season 4 of ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’, in which he will once again work with Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel, KayCee Stroh (Martha), Alyson Reed (Ms. Darbus) and Bart Johnson (Coach Bolton). The new chapters of the series will soon arrive on Disney+.