Monique Coleman Says Disney ‘Broke My Heart’ By Not Including Her in ‘High School Musical 3’ Press Tour

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"I was a Black girl playing the smartest girl in school which was a very big deal at that time," the actress explained.

 

Monique Coleman attends Disney+ "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" Season 3 premiere at Walt Disney Studios on July 27, 2022 in Burbank, California.

 

 

While the Wildcats often seemed like they were “all in this together,” Monique Coleman didn’t always agree.

The star, who played Taylor McKessie, the smart president of East High’s science club in the Disney Channel franchise, recently joined fellow Disney album Christy Carlson Romano on the latter’s most recent episode of her Vulnerable podcast. “Disney really broke my heart because when I got to the third movie, in so many ways, I really championed the film,” she explained. “I really always spoke so positively, and I was a Black girl playing the smartest girl in school which was a very big deal at that time. And when it came to promoting the third movie, I wasn’t invited on the tour.”

She added that “they said something about there not being enough room on the plane,” and ended up only bringing along her costars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and Corbin Bleu. Lucas Grabeel, who plays Ryan Evans in the trilogy, was also not invited.

“That heartbreak really hit me very deeply and did cause a bit of a depression because it helped me to recognize that I was overly identifying with what I was doing and not who I was,” she added. “And that was what led me to take that step and say, ‘Maybe this is my five minutes of fame. Maybe this is it in some way. And if that is the case, then what am I going to do with it.'”

Watch the full episode below.