Catching Up With Ashley Tisdale

Sharpay definitely turns it up a notch in HSM2. How fun was that?

There are so many different sides to her in this movie. She’s definitely worse in this movie — obviously — she’s trying to take someone’s boyfriend away from them and that’s not always nice. There’s also a very vulnerable side to her that you haven’t seen and how she acts in front of her parents — she acts like a little princess, like she’s the sweetest girl in town and when they are not around she’s very conniving. She’s trying to seduce Troy over to her side and she’s very good at that.

How are you like and different from your Sharpay character?


I think I share a passion for performing with her. She loves to perform. I love to perform, and she’s definitely got a drive. She goes for whatever she wants and that’s one thing that I share with her. Anything that I do with my career and life I probably won’t stop until I achieve that. Other than that, I’m not the boyfriend stealer, the conniving one, nor the drama queen.

Is that your dog in the movie?

No it’s Kenny Ortega’s [the film’s director]. It was the cutest thing ever and with such a natural talent. Not trained but so perfect at doing scenes. He was a boy so I felt bad we kept dressing him up in girl clothes. I would just throw him in a scene with me.

What was the HSM concert tour like for you?

When we got to go on concert with HSM and share our own music that was really awesome. That first night was probably the most nerve-wracking time of my whole life. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t talk to people. I was so nervous and stressed out it was crazy. Once I got up there all the nerves and energy just came out. The audience just gives you the energy — even if you are tired before you go on stage — it’s like you just want to give back. Right after, I ran over to Chik-fil-A and I had a humongous crispy chicken sandwich, because I was starving. I couldn’t eat because I was so nervous. Now it’s so cool to look back and say, “Wow, I accomplished that, too.”

What’s been one of your more memorable fan encounters?

Kids are like the funniest. Recently I was vacationing and I was in the pool, and then the kids noticed that I was there and all the kids get in the pool. I was with some family members that were younger than me and we had this blow-up turtle that we were sitting on, and this little boy was jumping on me and trying to steal this float from us. I was like “You got to be kidding me.” He knew who I was and he could care less. He was so kind-of obnoxious in a way. He was like “Your float sucks.” It was so mean, but kind of refreshing because a lot of kids don’t normally treat me like that. And to see that this kid could care less was kind of awesome. It was really cool.

When you’re not working what do you like to do?

I just like to relax at home. I’m not really home that much. I’m really a homebody. I love just hanging around the house and cleaning. I’m a very organized person but being away and coming back and forth you kind of get disorganized. So whenever I get a chance to clean the house is awesome, and watch TV, go to the movies, hang out with friends and family. I stay away from the whole Hollywood scene. My normal life is being at home with family and hanging out with my friends. It keeps me grounded.

You went to a normal school, too, did that also help keep you grounded?

Not just high school, I also worked in the clothing stores. I worked at the mall, worked at Wet Seal, Hollister, Ambercrombie & Fitch. My parents really wanted me to learn, even though I’ve been in this business since age 3 and have been making money my whole life, how hard it is to make money and the value of the dollar.