Ashley Tisdale’s character in her latest movie is the kind of girl Sharpay Evans would relish making miserable.
It was that stark difference between the oh-so-fabulous snob she immortalized in the High School Musical movies and the mousier gal she plays in ABC Family‘s Picture This! (July 13) that drew the young star to the role.
Tisdale plays Mandy, a high-school senior who finds her path to popularity — and a date with the school’s hottest guy — blocked by her overprotective father (Kevin Pollak), who grounds her on the night of the most important party of the year. She uses her wiles, and her spanking new videophone, to get to the party while making her dad believe she’s studying at a friend’s house. Along the way, she and her friends have to outmaneuver the mean rich girls intent on keeping Mandy in her place.
Tisdale took a break from shooting High School Musical 3 (scheduled to hit theaters in October) to speak with us and share her thoughts on comedy, dealing with paparazzi and saying goodbye to her signature role.
You have an executive producer’s credit on Picture This! Is this a new direction in your career?
It’s very exciting, I’m just starting to produce. There’s going to be a reality show, a Disney Channel sitcom, but it all kind of started with Picture This! It’s really cool to be able to be more creative in that area — I have my actor’s hat and my producer’s hat. There was some writing I thought could be different, I helped cast other actors. It was something I hadn’t done before.
What drew you to this project enough that you wanted to take on the extra responsibility?
I’m really well-known for Sharpay, and this role is more humble, girl next door. I’m actually a lot like my character in this movie. I read this script and it reminded me of me and my dad to a tee. My dad is so overprotective, and he runs a construction company [her character’s father in Picture This! is an architect]. I was like, “Oh, my gosh, my dad would have totally made me do this with a cell phone.” Although I couldn’t have a cell phone back then, he wouldn’t let me. It just totally reminded me of my father-daughter relationship I have with my dad, so I thought it would be perfect. It reminded me of something I went through and I just feel like kids should really see a different side. This is more who I am than Sharpay. I’m not the mean villain, I just don’t want to be typecast as that part. With this character I was able to be more like myself and not the popular girl.
Do you think seeing you in such a different role will be tough initially for your hard-core fans to take?
They also know me as Maddie from Suite Life, which is kind of in the same area, but [here] I’m in oversized clothes that look like construction pants and sweat shirt. My father raised me, so this is my take on more how my character would look like would be more of a boyish feel than a real feminine look, because she doesn’t really have that mother figure. I think people might be like “Whoa, she’s dressed in a purple sweatshirt and jeans,” because you never really see me in that. It was cool to play this character that was more humble and who could get the guy. She wasn’t perfect, and she didn’t change to get the guy. There are all those movies where they have a makeover and suddenly the guy notices them. I didn’t really have a makeover in this movie. He notices me before the makeover. It was just a really cool thing for kids who look up to me to know — you don’t have to change to get the guy’s attention, you just have to be yourself.
Was there a temptation to ugly her up a little?
I had glasses at the beginning, and they had thought, like, maybe she had braces, but I was like, I don’t really want to be all that different. I’m not scared to look bad in movies, I could care less. I’m a comedian, I make fun of myself. I didn’t care about that, but it was more like I want kids to know that it’s not the kind of movie where I do a drastic change. Because that happens in a lot of movies. She kind of hides herself. She has the glasses and oversized clothes. She changes a little bit — just a tiny bit — wearing a tighter shirt, and now she has contacts, so she’s more confident. I think confidence comes from within, and if you’re always changing yourself completely, you’ll never be happy with yourself. That was something I really wanted to show. It’s not she drastically changed and he finally saw her. He saw her before. She just got a little more confident in herself.
What was your high school experience like? More like Sharpay or more like Mandy?
Definitely more like Mandy. My parents are very overprotective. Which is great, because that shows that they love me and care about me. [In high school] I had just come from New Jersey to L.A., and it was all so different for me. I was definitely more the quiet type. … People meet me and I’m really quiet, and they don’t understand, they’re like, “Why isn’t she outgoing?” And I am, but there’s two sides. I’m really outgoing like my mom, and I’m really quiet and shy like my dad. And so obviously, when I’m acting I’m going to be like a different character and not myself. Lately, there’s all this paparazzi and people taking pictures, and people are saying I always look so mad, but it’s really me being quiet and shy. I really don’t know how to be in front of cameras unless I’m a character. As myself, I’m quiet and don’t say much. In high school, I was very quiet and shy and I never really had a group I belonged to, I just kind of mingled with everybody. I was always in and out doing work anyway. I was never like homecoming queen or anything like that. I had to work at clothing stores, so that’s how I got my cute clothes.
Is the extra paparazzi attention you’ve been getting lately been hard to deal with?
It’s always annoying. It’s kind of embarrassing, I feel, like when I’m going to stores I have this baggage come with me. It was just really hard to deal with at first, I was just like, “Please, leave me alone.” And I just look so pissed off in every picture that I kind of realized I just have to be myself. I have to open up, because I’m always happy. I’m always having so much fun with what I do … I just had to let go and had to deal with it. I thought at first if I played the pissed-off card and gave them no happy pictures that they would just get bored and go away, but it kind of makes them want even more pictures. So I was just like, “You know what, I’ve just got to put on a smile and be ready for whatever and just deal with it.” It’s been nice, though, because every single time I go to do a movie, they never come along. I mean, with High School Musical, they’re there the first couple weeks, but they can’t just sell pictures of you doing the same thing every day. So I just find that they’re there more when you’re doing your everyday stuff. I just really want to be known for my work and not what I do, and that’s what’s really upsetting is that I’m talked about in magazines going to the nail salon or something.
“High School Musical” has taken up much of your life the past few years. How was it not being on a totally different set?
It was definitely different. With High School Musical, we’re all so close and best friends, we’re like family, so it was hard. But everybody I worked with on this movie was amazing. Stephen Herek, the director, was just awesome. Every director has a different take on things, so it’s a different learning experience every time.
Since “High School Musical” is such a big hit, is Disney more protective of your image?
Not really, no. Before when I was on the sitcom [The Suite Life of Zack & Cody] with them, I actually didn’t have much time to do anything else. I was either doing the sitcom or High School Musical, so I didn’t venture out much. For myself, I’m very comfortable with what I’m doing now. I’m not going to do anything crazy and wild yet. I’m not that type of person. Maybe farther along in my career, when I’m older, I’ll do something a little bit darker or deeper. But I just feel like, right now, I can play young and I look young, so why not go with it while it lasts? You can’t go backwards, you can only go forward.
So (at age 23) you’re not feeling the itch to move beyond high school roles?
Not really. I just did a movie for Fox — They Came From Upstairs — where I play a senior graduating, so I am getting older! [laughs] And I am graduating in [the upcoming] High School Musical. … It’s still believable, people still think I’m 16 or 17 years old. … My fan base is there, they’ll grow with me and I’ll grow in other projects as well.
Do we get a wide range of scripts, and what kind of parts would you like to be getting offered?
I do get a wide range of stuff, but my agents know what I want to do. I kind of set out, “This is what I want to do right now.” I’m really into comedy. I love making people laugh, that’s truly what it is. … I would love to do a project with [Shia LeBeouf]. I think he’s hilarious and he’s such a good actor, and I just want to be taken seriously for my comedy skills. That’s really the genre I’m in right now and that’s what I look for. They Came From Upstairs is an action comedy, so I had an action scene that I really liked, so now I want to get more into the action movies. I just read scripts all the time and see what I really am passionate about and only do it if I’m really passionate about it.
Who are some comedians you look up to?
I love Kate Hudson. I love romantic comedies. She’s such a beautiful and humble and sweet person, and her acting is just hilarious. She’s just like her mom. Every movie she’s done — How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Fool’s Gold — I look up to her a lot.
How is High School Musical 3 going?
It’s going great. I think it’s going to be really, really hard at the very end, the last day of shooting. But it’s amazing. Every time we have done another one of these movies, it’s so much bigger and better. At the very beginning, you’re like, “I wonder if it can be the same as the last two movies,” and then you start filming and you’re like, “Whoa. This is even bigger.” The musical numbers are huge. The music is great. The storyline is awesome. I think everyone is having so much fun together. We all love working with each other, so it’s definitely going to be hard.