Skip to main content

Disney darling Ashley Tisdale is enjoying her role on the new hit series Carol’s Second Act. Achieving fame after starring in The Suite Life of Zac & Cody and High School Musical, Tisdale has become accustomed to all that is required when portraying a character.

When it comes to on-screen romance, Tisdale revealed that this lip-locking experience was not one of her favorite memories in front of the camera.

Ashely Tisdale of “Carol’s Second Act” | Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Separating from Sharpay

Playing the role of self-centered Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical trilogy, Tisdale remains grateful for the opportunity to portray such a memorable character yet sees that she has definitely evolved since those Disney days.

“I think she was perfect for the time in my life and that’s why I was even able to play her,” Tisdale told Hollywood Life in August. “I think I’ve grown so much as a person, that even if they asked me to play her tomorrow, I would never be able to do it, because I was so unaware of myself at the time.”

While she wouldn’t want to ‘reboot’ her High School Musical character, she hopes to tackle roles that are equally challenging. “The best part about Sharpay was that she was unaware of everybody around her, and she was only aware of herself in that moment,” Tisdale revealed. “I feel like I wouldn’t even be able to go there, but I’ve been honestly searching for a role that’s been just as exciting, because the best part was that she had so much to create.”

Would rather skip the smooch

Though some would think her on-screen kiss with Efron was during their HSM days, the smooch actually happened when the actor appeared on Tisdale’s Disney series. The actress didn’t hold back on why she wasn’t loving the lip lock.

“I’ll tell you why it was the worst, okay? I had to kiss Zac Efron on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and it’s the worst because I am so close to him and he’s like my brother,” she shared in Elle magazine’s “Thirst Trap” segment, according to Entertainment Tonight.

Their sibling-like relationship wasn’t the only reason Tisdale would’ve liked to pass on the pucker. Apparently, Efron was a bit un-Disney in his approach. “At the time, he was used to acting on, like, Warner Brothers, which is CW, and we were on Disney Channel,” Tisdale explained. “And so he, like, he tried kissing me with his tongue, and I was like, ‘Get away from me!’ I closed my mouth so fast. I was like, ‘This is Disney Channel, we don’t kiss like that on Disney Channel!'”

The Carol’s Second Act star went on to explain that their familiarity with each other was too big an obstacle to ignore when it came to on-screen love scenes. “It’s just weird when you’re so close to somebody, and we’d already done the movie [High School Musical]. I’d known him for years before,” Tisdale said. “That is why it was the worst. It’s just we’re too close.”

Ditched ’em at Disney

The actress still treasures the time she had as a Disney star and recently shared some of the perks that came along with the job. One included getting the royal treatment at Disneyland. “You know, when you work for Disney, you get obviously, like, a VIP person to bring you to the front of the lines and you just feel so cool,” Tisdale said on The Late Late Show with James Corden in September.

The sitcom star also revealed that she would sometimes use the majestic theme park as a location to give a date their walking papers. “It’s so funny, because I would actually bring guys there that I’d dated to kind of, like, flex a little bit,” Tisdale said. “I’d be like, ‘I’m Disney royalty,’ and then I’d break up with them after the fireworks. It was always a good story.”

Watch CBS’ Carol’s Second Act on Thursday nights!

Best in Entertainment