How old the stars of 'High School Musical' were compared to their characters' ages
Max Kalnitz
Monique Coleman was 25 when she played high school student Taylor McKessie in the hit movie.
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The first "High School Musical" was released in 2006 and became a mega success.

In the movie, the main characters are juniors, and it's assumed they are 16 or 17.

Some of the cast members were also teenagers, while others were much older.

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When Kenny Ortega's "High School Musical" was released 15 years ago, nobody had any idea just how popular it would be. And in the years since, it has only grown in popularity, with subsequent movies and musicals being released after the success of the first movie.

The first movie follows the unlikely relationship of basketball star Troy and the bookish Gabriella as they audition for the high school musical. Troy, Gabriella, and the rest of the main cast are juniors at East High School in the first "HSM" film.

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Unlike some movies like "Grease," where the cast was much older than their on-screen characters, many of the cast members of "HSM" were relatively close to being high school-aged during the film. But some were still far too old to still be in high school.

Keep reading to see the real ages of the cast of the first "HSM" movie compared to their characters.

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East High School basketball star Troy Bolton is 16 or 17 years old.

The junior is the captain of the varsity basketball team and the most popular male student at East High. With the help of Gabriella Montez, Troy also embraces his artistic side.

Zac Efron was 18 while filming "High School Musical."

At 18, Bolton would have either been wrapping up senior year or he'd be playing college hoops already. Still, since Efron is only one or two years older than his character, it makes the performance pretty believable.

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Troy's love interest and musical partner, Gabriella Montez, is also 16 or 17.

Gabriella met Troy at a New Year's Eve party. When the two are called upon to sing a karaoke duet, it's immediately apparent they have chemistry.

When Troy and Gabriella return to school from winter break, they audition for the school musical and find themselves struggling to attend callbacks for the lead roles while Troy juggles basketball and Gabriella juggles East High's Scholastic Decathlon Team.

She's played by Vanessa Hudgens, who turned 18 while filming the movie.

Hudgens was still of high school age while filming the movie, but a year or two older than her character would be as a junior. She's one of the cast members with the closest age to their character.

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East High Drama Club co-president Sharpay Evans is also a junior.

Like most of the junior class, Sharpay is also 16 or 17 years old. Throughout the first film, Sharpay and her brother, Ryan, attempt to sabotage Troy and Gabriella's chance to attend callbacks. The twins have worked their entire lives to star as leads in a musical and feel the roles are being stolen from them.

Ashley Tisdale was 20 at the time.

Tisdale was a few years older than Sharpay would have been but still pulled off the theater diva well.

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Ryan Evans is the same age as his twin sister, Sharpay.

Like his twin sister (and fellow East High Drama Club co-president) Ryan is 16 or 17.

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Lucas Grabeel was actually 22 at the time.

In January, Grabeel spoke with Insider's Olivia Singh and weighed in on whether Sharpay was the villain or victim of the movie.

"I don't think she's a victim at all," Grabeel told Insider. "Look at the reasons. You can say that she's a victim by saying, 'Oh, poor her because she didn't get this or she didn't get that.' But why is she going for it in the first place? She's conniving in undermining Gabriella. She's usurping her at every corner."

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Chad Danforth is Troy's best friend and co-captain of the basketball team. He's also 16 or 17.

Chad was known for wearing T-shirts with wacky phrases like "I majored in vacation" and carrying a basketball everywhere he went.

Corbin Bleu was 16 years old when filming "HSM."

Bleu's real age is a spot-on match for his "HSM" character.

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Scholastic Decathlon Team captain Taylor McKessie, who was also 16 or 17, had some pretty ambitious goals for a junior.

During the "High School Musical" series, Taylor dreamed of becoming president of the United States.

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At 25, Monique Coleman was the oldest cast member of the core characters.

Coleman was nearly a decade older than her on-screen character. The actress recently told Insider's Olivia Singh that her character wore a headband throughout the series because the crew didn't know how to style Black hair.

"The truth is, is that they had done my hair, and they had done it very poorly in the front," she told Insider. She added that because there wasn't a lot of time to fix her hair before filming, crewmembers suggested she "incorporate headbands into her character" and "just make that a part of who she is."

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Kelsi Nielsen, the theater student who composed the musical Twinkle Towne, was also 16 or 17.

In addition to the pretty important role of composing the musical that's at the center of the movie, Kelsi also played the piano during the auditions.

She was played by Olesya Rulin, who was 19 at the time.

If Kelsi was 19 like Rulin, she'd already be at college, probably studying something to do with music.

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